Battling adverse playing conditions, the women’s golf team emerged victorious in the McDaniel Spring Invitational held at the Bridges Golf Club in Abbottstown, Penn., on March 27.
Round two of the invitational, scheduled for March 30, was canceled due to inclement weather.
The Violets shot 343 and finished 55-over par — 16 shots ahead of second-place finisher Gettysburg College.
LS freshman Paridhi Bhargava led the way for the Violets, shooting an individual score of 9-over 81 — second behind Gettysburg’s Kara McNulty. Steinhardt senior and captain Kristina Shalhoup finished just behind her teammate, shooting a 10-over 82.
But the contributions of the rest of the team helped, the entire team finishes within the top 10.
Although the men’s team did not win its tournament, it also had a strong showing at the invitational, finishing fourth out of 18 teams.
CAS junior Matt Gjonaj said the team was satisfied with its performance, despite missing its top golfer Kyle Demshki, who missed the invitational due to personal matters. This year’s long winter has affected the team’s performance because it has not allowed them to get in as many practice hours, Gjonaj said.
“We did relatively well in relation to the field,” Gjonaj said. “We left a lot of strokes out there, but the misses [were] due to rust more than anything.”
The Violets shot a 320 overall — 15 strokes behind invitational winner St. John Fisher College. Much like the women’s team, the men’s team was led by a freshman. Owen Lin, CAS freshman, shot a 4-over 76 and finished three strokes behind first-place finisher Nick Palladino of the University of Rochester.
Gjonaj finished in a tie for 13th place with a 7-over 79, while CAS senior captain Tim Lau finished in 24th place with a 9-over 81. Gjonaj also praised Charles van Cook.
“[He] stepped up after not playing in a tournament for a while,” Gjonaj said.
The men’s team will be back on the course next weekend for the Farmingdale State Invitational at the Bethpage Golf Club, while the women’s team will resume play the following weekend at the Vassar College Invitational.
A version of this article appeared in the Monday, March 31 print edition. Additional reporting by Francisco Navas. Tony Chau is a senior editor. Email them at [email protected].
