HAMILTON – Colgate Golf opens its 2026-27 campaign this weekend, hosting the 10th Annual Alex Lagowitz Memorial on Saturday and Sunday at Seven Oaks Golf Club.
The Raiders welcome an 84-golfer field spanning 13 teams to Hamilton for the 54-hole event. Play begins both days with a 9 a.m. shotgun start, featuring 36 holes on Saturday before Sunday's final 18-hole round. Seven Oaks will play at a par-72, 7,125-yard setup from the black tees.
Tournament Details
Event: Alex Lagowitz Memorial, hosted by Colgate
When: Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 5-6
Where: Seven Oaks Golf Club | Par 72, 7,125 yards
Format: Stroke Play | Play 5, Count 4
Schedule of Play: Three 18-hole rounds | 54-hole tournament
- Saturday, Sept. 5 - Round 1 | 9 a.m. shotgun start
- Saturday, Sept. 5 - Round 2 | Upon conclusion of round 1
- Sunday, Sept. 6 - Round 3 | 9 a.m. shotgun start
Participating Teams (13): Binghamton, Bucknell, Canisius, Colgate, Cornell, Holy Cross, Le Moyne, Niagara, Penn, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Joe's, Seton Hall, Villanova
Follow The Action: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/246006/scoring/participants
"Hosting the Alex Lagowitz Memorial is always the highlight of our fall schedule," head coach JP Kircher said as he enters his fourth season leading the program. "Playing in front of our friends, family, and home crowd gives us great energy. The guys put in strong work over the summer, and I'm eager to see that translate on the course. Seven Oaks is a special venue and in fantastic shape for the weekend. With a competitive field lined up, our goal is to put ourselves right in contention down the stretch on Sunday."
Colgate returns a strong core of seven letterwinners from last year's squad, anchored by senior Leo Li alongside juniors Brayden Dock, Jayden Freedman, Alex Hill, and Chad Ruggiero. Sophomores Ronav Benak and Gabriel Garson-Goroway round out the returning veterans, who welcome newcomers Jonathan Brubaker and Joshua McGown to the roster for the upcoming season.
Colgate capped off last season with an eighth-place finish at the Patriot League Championship, highlighted by top-10 individual performances. Benak paced the Raiders on the final day in West Point, carding a 1-over 71 in the final round to secure a 10th-place overall finish.
Dock turned in a standout campaign to earn All-Patriot League honors, posting a team-best 75.4 adjusted scoring average across 30 rounds. His signature performance came at the Bucknell Invitational, where he fired an impressive final-round 65 to surge past a 112-golfer field and capture his first collegiate victory.
Li also returns with All-Patriot League credentials on his resume, having tied for fourth at the conference championship as a sophomore. Freedman adds key depth to the upperclassmen lineup as a two-time Patriot League Golfer of the Week. He registered a pair of top-10 finishes last season.
As a team, Colgate logged four top-five finishes last year, featuring back-to-back third-place results at the Autumn Invitational in Lake Placid and the Bucknell Invitational. Hill led the Raiders in Lake Placid with a sixth-place individual finish, while Dock's medalist performance guided the team in Lewisburg.
The Raiders are seeking to win the Alex Lagowitz for the first time since going back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. Colgate placed seventh at last year's event behind an 11th-place effort from Li, while Dock and Hill finished 27th and 38th, respectively.
Schedule Outlook
This weekend kicks off a six-event fall slate for Colgate. Highlights include a return to the Bucknell Invitational – where the program has claimed two team titles since 2019 – and the inaugural CNY Challenge Cup, a tri-match against Le Moyne and Binghamton set for Sept. 27-28.
About Seven Oaks
Named for the ancestral home of the Colgate family, Seven Oaks Golf Club is nestled on the Colgate University Campus at the upper end of the Chenango Valley, in Hamilton, New York. In 1934, a young architect by the name of Robert Trent Jones was brought to Hamilton to begin work on designing the course as one of his first projects. Unfortunately, due to the great depression and WWII, the course and his plans were continuously postponed.
It was not until 1956 that ground was broken on the first nine holes, officially opening on July 4, 1958. Construction for the remainder soon began and on September 4th, 1965 the last nine holes were opened for play. Seven Oaks is characteristic of all Jones' courses, which include strategic deployment of water, along with extensive tee areas and large, expansive greens.
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