Dave Taraschi is looking for an injury-free season this spring after enduring a rash of ailments during his first three semesters with the Scarlet Raptors’ golf team. When he has been healthy, he has turned in some of the top accomplishments in Rutgers-Camden golf history.

        Taraschi has had the best average on the Scarlet Raptors during each of his three semesters with the program. He owns a 77.4 average in eight invitationals over his career, during which he has had the Raptors’ best score in every outing.

        Taraschi’s top performance came on April 10, 2007 at the Tom Ruggieri Invitational II, held at The Springhaven Club in Wallingford, Penn. He shot a 69 to break the old Rutgers-Camden match record by two strokes, an accomplishment which earned him the school’s Raptor of the Week honor for April 16. Taraschi was the overall medalist at that event, one of three times he has been the overall individual medalist in a collegiate match. He also earned overall medalist honors at the RU-Camden Scarlet Raptors Fall Invitational on Oct. 27, 2006, shooting a 78, and took honors at the Wesley College Invitational April 18, 2007 with a 76.

        In addition to his program-record round of 69, Taraschi also shot a 74 at the York College Spring Golf Invitational March 26, 2007. That tied him for the 10th-best round in program history.

        Taraschi returns to the squad this spring after injuries limited him to only two outings in the 2007 fall season. He opened the semester with an 84 at the Wesley College Fall Invitational (Sept. 8) and returned in time for the last competition, where he shot a 78 at the RU-Camden Scarlet Raptors Fall Invitational Oct. 29. That performance earned him his second career Raptor of the Week honor, winning recognition on Nov. 5. His 81.0 average in those two events was the best average on the team.

        Taraschi’s one healthy semester came in the spring of 2007 when he posted the Raptors’ top score in all five invitationals, on his was to being named the golf team MVP for the 2006-07 school year. In addition to his back-to-back individual medalist honors at the season-ending Tom Ruggieri and Wesley College Invitationals, he shot his 74 at York (March 26) and turned in two rounds of 80 in consecutive outings at the Lebanon Valley College Invitational (April 2) and the Moravian College Spring Invitational (April 5).  He averaged a team-best 75.8 for the semester.

        Taraschi was one of the top scholastic golfers in South Jersey during his four-year career at Haddonfield Memorial High School. He earned All-South Jersey Second Team honors from the Courier-Postnewspaper during his senior season in 2006, when he also captured All-Group 2 First Team honors. He earned First Team All-Colonial Conference recognition all four seasons at Haddonfield, where he also was an Honor Roll student as a senior and earned Third Honors.

        In addition to golf, Taraschi’s hobbies include hockey.   
  
        Dave’s sister, Therese, was a member of Rutgers-Camden’s 2006 NCAA Division III national championship softball team.

        A Business major at Rutgers-Camden who hopes to become a PGA professional, Dave is the son of David and Theresa Taraschi of Haddonfield.