NYU’s golf teams were in full swing this weekend.
The men’s golf team competed at the Williams College Invitational in Williamstown, Mass. The Violets jumped up from 13th to seventh place out of 24 teams in the second day of competition. After shooting a combined 317 the first day, the men were able to pull off a solid 313 the next day to ensure their jump in the standings.
Freshman Owen Lin led the effort for the men by posting an astounding 75 on day two. Senior captains Kyle Demshki and Timothy Lau also able contributed with solid 79s. Junior Matt Gjonaj rounded out the top four for the men by posting an 80-stroke count.
Stern junior Kevin Chien said he was proud of the freshman players for stepping up and in confident the team will play better next week.
“We are just looking forward to next week because it is a course we know,” Chien said.
Williams College won their own invitational by posting a combined two-day score of 607. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute came in second with 611 and Trinity College rounded out the top three by posting a combined score of 612.
Meanwhile, the women’s golf team dropped to sixth place on the second and final day of the Mount Holyoke College Invitational on Sunday, Sept. 22 at the Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, Mass.
Following a day-one performance in which they shot a combined 338, the women came back the next day to shoot a combined 333. Although they finished with five fewer strokes on day two, it wasn’t enough as they moved down from fifth place to sixth place in the invitational.
Sophomore Elaine Tse led the Violets, as she went on to shoot a 78 on day two, an impressive nine-stroke improvement from her day-one 87.
“The greens were rolling better than the first day,” Tsa said about the improvement between the first and second days.
Senior captain Kristina Shalhoup and rookie Paridhi Bhargava both posted solid scores of 83 strokes each. Shalhoup shot two strokes better than her day-one performance while Bhargava shot an 83 for the second consecutive day.
Rounding out the top-four scores for NYU was freshman Jessica Vasso, who struggled on day two. After a solid day-one outing of 83 shots, she went on to post an 89.
Williams College finished in first place with a combined two day stroke count of 619, Ithaca College in second with 631 and Middlebury College in third.
The women hope to build on this performance and carry it over to their next competition, the Williams College Invitational starting Oct. 5, The men’s next challenge will begin Sept. 28 when they compete in the Liberty League Championship in Canton, N.Y.
A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Sept. 23 print edition. Ferenc Puskas a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].