Yale Athletics

The Yale women’s golf team played a single round at the St. John’s Invitational to finish off its fall schedule. 

The Bulldogs traveled to Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, to compete in the St. John’s Invitational, which was originally scheduled for Monday, Oct. 25th to Tuesday, Oct. 26th. However, inclement weather on Tuesday meant that the second and third rounds of the competition could not be played. The tournament was shortened to 18 holes and Yale’s sixth-place result reflects only that first round of play.

“It’s definitely not how we wanted our season to end,” Kaitlyn Lee ’23 said. “I think we all wanted a little redemption on Tuesday but unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate. On the bright side, we know what we need to work on and we’re ready to put in the work this winter. We can’t wait until the spring season comes because I think we’ve just scratched the surface of how good we can be as a team.”

The team began the season with a win at the Boston College Intercollegiate, had a fourth-place finish at the Princeton Invitational and tied for second-place at home in the Yale Invitational. At St. John’s, the Bulldogs finished sixth out of the ten teams present while Quinnipiac took the first-place position. Columbia, the only other Ancient Eight squad at the tournament, finished third.

The Bulldogs finished with a team score of 25 over par, with captain Ami Gianchandani ’23 tying for eighth place with a score of three over par. 

“It’s a bummer we had our last tournament of the season cut short,” Gianchandani said. “But it reinforces the drive in all of us to play our best when we are out there.”

Alexis Kim ’25 and Gianchandani made 12 and 11 pars, respectively, to contribute to Yale’s top-three finish in the same category — 48. Kim had the second strongest finish for the Elis as she tied for 13th place with a round score of four over par. Lee tied for 21st place with a score of five over par.

Given the abrupt end to the tournament with only a third of the competition completed, only six players across the field finished with a placement that was not a tie. 

“I believe many of the best lessons are also the toughest to learn,” Yale women’s golf head coach Lauren Harling told the News. “We are looking at this event as a way to really focus on how to prepare over the winter for our spring season. We have high expectations and this group of women are some of the most talented I have had the opportunity to coach. We’re adopting a growth mentality and looking forward to a productive offseason.”

The Yale women’s golf team will resume its season in the spring.