The NYU men’s golf team finished in eighth place at their most recent tournament, after a mixed performance at three tournaments this semester.

After winter break, the Violets had a shaky start to UAA play, losing against Emory University and the University of Rochester.

Following their losses, the team headed down to Georgia on March 17. Even with a spectacular top 25 finish for team captain Charles Hsieh (70-75,73), they still finished at 28 out of 30 teams. For a team that was ranked 17 earlier in the season, this was a disappointing weekend, but the focus remained on the next two tournaments.

“We had a really fun tournament on UAA to start off, and then we played in Jekyll and our results weren’t as good as last year,” sophomore Kevin Kim said. “But I think that’s just due to us not being able to practice. At this point in our season, we’re definitely trending in the right direction.”

After a disappointing start to the spring season, the Violets played in the The Hershey Cup, hosted by the University of Rochester.

Kim (80-72) was the top performer, finishing tied for fifth and carding a one-over 72 to move up 24 slots on the last day. Hsieh (78-77) once again finished in the top 25, and the team finished tied for nine out of 15 teams. The results were positive and confidence was building for the previously top-20 ranked NYU team.

“I think we’re going into the rest of the season feeling like we don’t have a ton to lose,” Hsieh said. “That’s a liberating feeling. We’re trying to kind of take some of the previous tournaments that we have had that have been relatively disappointing and frame them in a positive light.”

The tournament hosted by Skidmore College this past weekend was another step in the right direction. Coming off a 2021-22 season that saw the Violets win four tournaments and finish in the top 10 of the NCAA tournament, the squad was looking to succeed even without three of their top five, who graduated last year. Kim and Hsieh are the only returning starters while Rohan Aerrabolu, Ryan Leung and Ishaan Shroff are all underclassmen looking to make a statement. 

“We have a couple freshmen that are playing better,” Hsieh said. “Rohan played pretty good last week. We’re excited to get back out there.”

Aerrabolu (71-74) was NYU’s top finisher at Skidmore, and Leung (73-74) also helped the team by finishing in the top 25. As the season winds down, NYU will need to pick it up to have a chance to make the NCAA tournament. If not, this would be the first time in three seasons that they miss out on a chance to play into late May.

“[I’m] building some good momentum and getting some good confidence out there,” Aerrabolu  said.

The Violets will try to bring this momentum into the two-day Farmingdale State Invitational starting April 22, a tournament at which they took first place last year. Hsieh and Kim both finished in the top ten.

However, the only way to clinch a spot in the NCAA is to win the last tournament of the year at the Liberty League Championship between April 28 and April 30.

“The whole season is basically just trying to build confidence, and get us in a position to play our best for that tournament,” Kim said.

Contact Miller Romm at [email protected].