Courtesy of Lauren Harling

On Tuesday, the Yale women’s golf team secured a victory in its first tournament back together as a team.

The Bulldogs could not have asked for a better start to their season after winning the Boston College Invitational. To add to her laurels, Ami Gianchandani ’23 continued her dominant performance donning the Blue and White, winning individual honors for the eighth time at Yale, according to the first-semester junior. The women’s golf team started hot on Monday in the first round, scoring a team tournament best of 289, and they did not relinquish their lead from there. This was the first victory for head coach Lauren Harling as well as the first team win since April 2018 at the Navy Invitational, according to the third-year coach.

“After almost two years of being away from competition, there was so much excitement and buildup to this first tournament back which made it all the more special to be able to win it as a team and have individual first and second place finishes,” captain Gianchandani said. “Our toughness is what carried us through the tournament. We were physically and mentally stronger and able to last longer than the other teams out there. The pin positions were very tricky but we were able to stay patient and work hard until the very end.”

Yale won the tournament by three strokes over host Boston College. The tournament consisted of three rounds played over two days with the best four scores of each team’s five members counting for each round.

Yale’s team this week consisted of Gianchandani, Alexis Kim ’25, Sophie Simon ’25, Coco Chai ’23 and Kaitlyn Lee ’23. Amy Zhang ’24 competed as an individual. There are nine golfers in total on the squad.

Gianchandani (right) and Kim (left) celebrate their first and second place finishes, respectively (Photo: Courtesy of Lauren Harling).

“I really enjoyed representing Yale for the first time this week,” Simon said. “There was definitely a little added pressure now that I am playing as part of a team, but thankfully I got off to a strong start in the first round. It is such a great feeling to begin the season on a win and it definitely gives us some momentum going into the Princeton Invitational.”

Kim had a solid first outing with the Bulldogs, finishing tied for second place, only four strokes behind her teammate Gianchandani. Simon also had a great first tournament — she was eight strokes behind the leader and placed tenth overall.

Over all three rounds, the Elis led the field in total birdies with 37 and eagles with two as well as par-four and par-five averages of 4.13 and 4.93 strokes per hole, respectively.

“I’ve been looking forward to competing with them since last spring,” Lee said. “Over the past year I was able to play in several individual tournaments, but competing with my teammates at Yale brings out a new kind of excitement. Being able to feed off of each other’s energies and having that extra support system of positivity and encouragement fuels a new level of competition.”

The women’s golf squad looks to build on its success when they travel to New Jersey to compete in the Princeton Invitational this Saturday and Sunday.

EUGENIO GARZA GARCíA
Eugenio Garza García covers baseball, golf and athletic phasing. Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, he is a sophomore in Branford College majoring in Economics and English.