The NYU men’s and women’s golf team hosted the University Athletic Association on Sunday and Monday at the Redtail Golf Course in Sorrento, Florida. The men, despite a commendable performance, finished last out of four teams. The women came in second out of three teams.

This finish was the lowest for the men in the season so far. The Violets shot a total 329 on Sunday and improved on Monday with 309, but unfortunately their total of 638 strokes was only six behind third-place Emory College. The University of Rochester won the championship with 611 strokes. Senior captain Kevin Chien felt the team could have performed better.

“We’re all a little disappointed with how we finished,” Chien said. “But this is our first time playing a tournament since last October — we only started practice indoors a couple weeks ago. I think we’ll be in fighting shape after our spring break training trip.”

Two Violets finished in the top five and earned All-UAA First Team Honors. Freshman Paul Park tied for third place by shooting a 152, while Chien tied for fifth with 153 strokes. Park said he was focused on the team’s growing improvement instead of their last place finish.

“I thought I played solid golf today, besides one hole, and yesterday was the same,” Park said. “As for the team, we have a lot of talent and we did a lot better today but there’s a lot more to play for the season and we will keep playing tough to get a win.”

Freshman Christopher Nolte tied for 15th place with Bradley Jennette of Carnegie Mellon University and senior co-captain Matthew Gjonaj tied for 20th place with Vince Sirianni of Emory. Freshman Hartej Gill improved by 12 strokes on Monday tying for 26th place.

The men’s team will return over the April 4-5 weekend when they compete in the Hershey Cup in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The 11th-ranked Violets women’s team finished second of three teams. They came in a full 20 strokes behind third-ranked Washington University in
St. Louis.

Violets standouts included freshmen Phoebe Zhao and Kristin Lee as well as junior Elaine Tse, who all finished in the top 10 with scores of 164, 167 and 166 respectively. Zhao was still disappointed with the way the Violets performed in their first tournament outside.

“I think we can definitely post some better scores,” Zhao said. “I did not play very well in the tournament and I think there’s a lot of space of improvement if I am able to get my swing back.”

The women’s team will have a quick turnaround, as their next competition will begin March 13 at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia. With one outdoor competition under their belts to shake the rust off, they will look to perhaps take the top spot this time around.

A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, March 10 print edition. Email Kyle Luther at [email protected].