The NYU golf teams were busy preparing for Liberty League play, as the men traveled to Ballston Spa, New York for the Dr. Tim Brown Invitational while the ladies competed at the Jack Leaman Invitational in Massachusetts. Highlighted by a number of strong performances, the Violets looked to be in top form ahead of championship competition.

Sophomore Kristin Lee had the best performance of any Violet during the weekend, finishing in second place, nine shots behind Amherst College’s Jamie Gracie. Lee had a remarkable turnaround in two days. After struggling Saturday with an 82, Lee went two under par on Sunday, finishing with an impressive 72. With pristine conditions, Lee has never felt better on the course.

“The greens were still tough but my swing felt so solid,” Lee said. “I was hitting the ball the best I’ve ever hit it and my score definitely showed that. Overall, I was just in a good mood the whole day and am so ready to win Liberty Leagues next weekend.”

Freshmen Jennifer Bluetling and Catherina Li were next in line behind Lee, finishing in a tie for eighth place with total scores of 164 apiece. The path to that score, however, differed tremendously. Bluetling played consistently, scoring 82 twice to get to finish with +16. Meanwhile, Li had to battle back from a tough 87 on Saturday, greatly improving on Sunday with a solid 77 to climb the leaderboard.

Junior Mikeala Santos wasn’t far behind, finishing two strokes behind Bluetling and Li in a congested field to finish in a tie for 16th. Finally, sophomore Phoebe Zhao finished in a tie for 25th with a 172 and Rose Freidman finished in 38th with a score of 182.

Derrek Drozdyk played steadily on the men’s side for an eighth-place score of 147. Similar to the ladies, several Violets were near the top of the board, with freshman Qizhi Wong just one stroke behind, good enough for 10th place. Meanwhile, freshman Lucas Olberholtzer dropped eight strokes off of his first-round score on Sunday to finish in a tie for 14th with a score of 150.

Junior Eric Tarakjian finished slowly farther down the leaderboard in a tie for 27th with a 154, while junior Matthew Love finished tied for 46th with a score of 164. Senior Julius Oppenheimer was the final Violet to compete on the men’s side, finishing in 48th with a 165.

It’s time for championship action as the Violets will be in action next weekend at the Liberty League Championships. The men will compete in the third and fourth rounds of the competition in Baldwinsville, New York, while the women will travel to South Hadley, Massachusetts. Currently, the men are in sixth place, and the ladies are gearing up for a great performance.

A version of this article appeared in the April 18 print edition. Email Michael Thompson at [email protected].