The NYU golf season got off to a tremendous start as both the men’s and women’s teams won their respective sides of the St. Lawrence University Invitational this weekend at the Oliver D. Appleton Golf Course in Canton, NY. The women didn’t leave much room for doubt in their performance, while the men battled short and fast greens to overcome a Saturday deficit.

Women

The Violets looked as if they never missed a beat after last season’s late success, steamrolling over their opponents for a dominant first victory of the season. A team score of 599 was posted, the second lowest in program history, and 39 strokes ahead of second-place SUNY Cortland. The team played consistently each day, posting nearly identical scores of 300 and 299 on Saturday and Sunday to ensure the win.

The Violets populated the top of the leaderboard, with freshman Arisa Kimura swinging herself into prominence with a breakout performance in her first college tournament. Kimura led all players with a one-under 71 on Saturday, and followed it up with a solid 75 the next day to finish with a two-over 146 for the weekend. Her efforts were enough to hold off junior Violet Alyssa Poentis, who finished one stroke behind Kimura after a tournament-low 69 on Sunday.

After agonizing over the prospect of missing the cut, Kimura feels she has plenty to offer for this Violets squad.

“It feels amazing to have had an impact on the team especially because this time last week I was worried whether or not I would even make the team,” Kimura said. “I think I proved that I am a reliable player and I hope to continue to improve and impress the coaches by playing well in the
next tournament.”

Freshman Patty Treevichaphan and sophomore Jenni Bluetling rounded out the four Violets who cracked the top five with respective scores of 148 and 151. Junior Kristin Lee and freshman Ashley Tsoi weren’t far behind, both tied for six with identical 155 totals.

After taking this coming weekend off, the women will be in action on Sept. 18 at the Ann S. Batchelder Golf Invitational in Wellesley, MA.

Men

Though it wasn’t pretty at times, the men’s squad survived early troubles and rose from the bottom on Sunday to earn their first win of the year as well. The Violets trailed Clarkson University by four strokes after Saturday, but surged on Sunday, overtaking all competitors to finish with a team score of 614, four shots better than Hamilton College.

While the women’s team dominated with players atop the leaderboard, the men were able to win with only one player cracking the top five. Fellow freshman, Jensen Li, posted a strong 73 on Sunday and tied for fifth with a seven-over 151. Senior Eric Tarakjian was the only other Violet to finish in the top-ten with a 154.

Returning sophomore Qizhi Wong and first-year player Kelly Sun were right behind, finishing 11th and 12th  with one stroke separating them. Sophomore Lucas Olberholtzer finished in a tie for 23rd at +17, while freshman Matt Shen shaved 16 shots off of his Saturday score to finish in a tie for 35th.

The men will look to stay hot this weekend at the Middlebury/Lake Placid Invitational in Lake Placid, NY.

A version of this article appeared in Tuesday, Sept. 6 print edition. Email Michael Thompson at [email protected].