Tag Archive: W. Golf

  1. GOLF | Yale teams tee off to strong season

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    A stellar start to the season for the men’s golf team Monday and Tuesday was eclipsed only by the even stronger performance of the women’s golf team over the weekend.

    The women’s team opened its season with a 15-stroke win at the Dartmouth Invitational Tournament. Shreya Ghei ’15 capped off the weekend by winning the individual title with a one-under par 143 over the two days of the tournament. The men carried the momentum of the women’s team the next two days and took second at the Adams Cup in Newport, R.I.

    “The team played really well,” Sam Bernstein ’14 said. “The conditions were tough — it was windy both days and both courses were pretty firm and fast. But we played really solid golf, and our top four guys showed that we can be competitive not only with schools across the country but with schools in the Ivy League.”

    Bernstein led the Elis to an overall score of +23 over the three rounds of the tournament, which left them only a single stroke behind No. 22 University of Central Florida, who took first place in the tournament. The junior played consistent, opportunistic golf over the weekend for an even par performance that landed him the individual championship. Close on his heels was Joe Willis ’16, who finished second at +3 in his Yale debut.

    Despite his inexperience and the large footprints that Yale freshmen have left over the past few seasons — both Bernstein and Will Davenport ’15 won the Ivy League Rookie of the Year award over the past two seasons — Willis said that he was unaffected by the pressure.

    “I was a little bit nervous just as with any tournament on the first tee, but once the round got started the nerves weren’t an issue,” Willis said. “I just kept the ball in play. I hit it pretty solid, and I made a few putts.”

    The men’s individual and team successes capped off a strong showing for the Elis that began three days earlier with the women’s team. The Bulldogs led Boston University by two strokes after the first day of competition and never relinquished that lead. The Elis were undaunted by the task of playing with the lead and dropped their team score to 295 on the second day of competition, leaving BU in the dust.

    The Bulldogs’ second-day 295 approached the team’s target of 288 — even par for the top four players — that head coach Chawwadee Rompothong ’00 set for the team at the beginning of the year.

    “Our team low is 292 and we want to break that,” Rompothong said. “We want to focus on what we can control rather than what other teams do. Our average was 310 last year and a score lower than 300 is great. It’s important that we keep getting closer every time we compete, and it’s nice to focus on something else we can control.”

    The Yale women were led by strong individual performances from Ghei and Sun Gyoung Park ’14, both of whom set personal records over the weekend, according to Rompothong. Park finished tied for third and three more Yalies, Marika Liu ’15, Caroline Rouse ’15 and Seo Hee Moon ’14 finished in the top nine for the tournament.

    Ghei won her individual title with consistent rounds of 71 and 72 and edged BU’s Kristyna Pavlickova by two strokes. The sophomore said that her putting gave her the advantage this weekend.

    “I putted really well, which was important because all of last year I wasn’t putting as well,” Ghei said. “I wasn’t holing shots from all over the course but I sank a lot of putts when I had the chance.”

    While the Dartmouth course that Ghei and her teammates faced was like a “miniature Yale” according to Rompothong, the men faced a much more unfamiliar environment in Newport.

    The first two rounds of the tournament were played at the Newport Country Club, wich Bernstein described as a windy, links-style course. The final round was played at Carnegie Abbey.

    Both teams will return to familiar environs for their next matches, however. The women will contest the Yale Intercollegiate Tournament on their home course this weekend and the following weekend the men will play in the Macdonald Cup at the Course at Yale as well.

    “We’re going to be working hard in practice for our home tournament next weekend. We definitely want to play well,” Willis said. “Our focus is to try to win our home tournament.”

    Correction: Sept. 19

    A previous version of this article mistakenly referred to the Macdonald Cup, a golf tournament at Yale, as the MacArthur Cup.

  2. GOLF | Bulldogs shrug off fifth-place finish

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    Bad weather contributed to a poor performance for the men’s golf team last weekend and the Bulldogs slid to fifth place in the Century Intercollegiate tournament.

    The Elis finished in the lower half of the eight-team tournament, held from Apr. 21 to 22 in Purchase N.Y. This upcoming weekend, the team will travel to Galloway, N.J., for the Ivy League Championships. Yale scored a 625 over the two days of competition, but the effort was not enough to top Rhode Island (600), Harvard (606), Princeton (617) or Dartmouth (624).

    “I don’t think last weekend will affect us one way or another [at Ivy League Championships],” Hatten said, “Ivies is a completely different ball game.”

    On the first day of the tournament, the team was in third place with a score of 303, which trailed both Dartmouth and Rhode Island. At the time, the Bulldogs were only seven strokes behind first-place Rhode Island.

    But on the second day of competition the team added 19 strokes to its score and dropped to fifth place in the standings. The Elis played in the latest wave of tee times and faced difficult weather conditions, including pouring rain and cold. Sam Bernstein ’14 said Saturday was one of the worst days of golf he has seen throughout his career, but Bradley Kushner ’13 added that the awful conditions were no excuse for the team’s place because every team faced them.

    Yale’s top scorer, Jeff Hatten ’12 earned a 153 and tied for ninth in the individual standings. Hatten was tied for fourth place with a score of 73 and scored an 80 on the second day.

    Russell Holmes ’13 had a strong Saturday as well and finishing only two stokes behind Hatten with a 75.

    Despite the weekend’s tough Sunday round, team members said they remain optimistic about the Ivy League Championships. Kushner said last weekend’s loss may even be a “blessing in disguise” because after the team members are not over confident heading into the championships yet are still comfortable with their own abilities after this weekend’s performance. Hatten agreed that despite losing to three Ivy League rivals this weekend, the tournament will not have a negative effect on Ivy League Championships.

    “Everyone goes in [to Ivy League Championships] with the most intensity, pressure and excitement,” Hatten said, “and we’re right where we need to be to contend.”

    The Bulldogs managed to beat Brown and Cornell last weekend.

    Since the Elis saw such difficult weather conditions on Sunday, they will be better prepared to play through them at Ivies, should the conditions take a turn for the worst, Kushner said. Hatten added that the Elis have already practiced in bad weather this week in preparation for the tournament. When the Bulldogs took the Ivy title last year, the team also faced difficult conditions.

    Last year, the Elis bested second-place Columbia by 20 strokes.

  3. GOLF | Yale teams each take fourth

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    A windy weekend produced mixed results for the men’s and women’s golf teams.

    The men’s team kicked off its spring season with the Yale Spring Opener at the Course at Yale on Saturday. The men placed fourth out of 13 teams, falling to Tennessee (574), Dartmouth (591), and Seton Hall (602), with a score of 618. The women’s team, which competed at the Brown Invitational on Sunday and Monday in Providence, placed fourth out of 11 teams, with a score of 629 and scored the lowest of any team on Monday, posting a 313.

    “Obviously we have a lot to work on… [but] I definitely don’t think we’re worried,” team captain Jeffrey Hatten ’12 said. “If anything it will motivate us individually and as a team to step it up a little bit.”

    Although the men’s team said it was disappointed by its performance at the tournament, team members said they understand they played under difficult course conditions. Hatten said that the team may have lost some of its home course advantage because it is not used to playing in such high winds.

    High winds were also a significant factor in the women’s tournament, team captain Lily Boettcher ’12 said. The first day had less wind, Seo Hee Moon ‘14 said, and the Elis placed fifth with a score of 316.

    On the second day of competition, the wind kicked it up a notch and so did the Bulldogs. The team posted the best score of any team (313), which Boettcher said is a particularly impressive feat because of the challenging weather conditions.

    The five women who contributed to the Elis’ team score were Sun Park ’14, Moon, Joy Kim ’13, Alex Lipa ’13, and Callie Kemmer ’12. In addition, Boettcher and Shreya Ghei ’15 competed individually. Moon had the lowest individual score on the second day of competition (72). Moon placed fourth in the overall individual competition and as followed by teammates Park and Boettcher who placed 12th and 15th respectively.

    On the men’s team, the top five competitors were Hatten, Bradley Kushner ’13, Sam Bernstein ’14, Will Davenport ’15 and Carson Weinand ’13. Hatten posted the best score for the Bulldogs, +12, and tied for 14th in the individual standings. Other individual highlights of the tournament included Hatten and Kushner’s first round scores of 74, and Berstein’s second round score of 75. Despite these successes, no one walked away from the tournament satisfied with his play, Davenport said.

    The men’s team members said they are looking forward to continued matchups in the upcoming weeks, particularly with Ivy League rival Dartmouth. The next three weekends Yale will compete in the same tournaments as the Big Green. Both Hatten and Davenport said that while they have the upmost respect for Dartmouth as a team, they hope the upcoming weeks will yield a different result in the Yale-Dartmouth contest.

    Both the men’s and women’s teams are focused on the coveted Ivy League title. The men’s team has two more tournaments before the Ivy League Championships, including one this upcoming weekend at Princeton. Hatten said the team would like to gain more experience playing under pressure before Ivies and defend its first place finish from last year in the Princeton Invitational.

    When it comes to the Ivy League Championships, Davenport said despite the team’s finish at this tournament, he thinks the Bulldogs will come together at the end of the season when it matters. Boettcher expressed a similar sentiment about the women’s team, saying that the team is headed in the right direction and will be ready for its Ivy League Championship tournament.

    The Ivy League Championships will be held in Galloway, N.J., on April 27-29.

  4. GOLF | Teams prep for spring tournaments

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    Yale’s golf teams are beginning their spring seasons with high expectations and Ivy League Championships to defend.

    Both the men’s and women’s teams qualified for the NCAA tournament last year after winning their respective Ivy League Championships. The women’s team, which will compete on Monday in Georgetown, lost three seniors last season to graduation, but expects to make up the difference with a strong freshman class. The men’s team, which will kick off it’s spring season on April 7 at home, lost only one senior and gained three freshman.

    “Everybody is hungry to repeat an Ivy League Championship,” William Davenport ’15 said.

    After a winter of working inside, the men’s team is itching to hit the golf course and repeat the success of last spring. Members of the team said they may be even stronger this year.

    “I think we’re just as strong if not stronger [than last year],” Jeffrey Hatten ’12, the team captain said, “We have more experience than last year,” he added. The biggest loss to the men’s team was former captain Tom McCarthy ’11, who was a significant contributor to the team last year. The three freshmen this year, Davenport, Thomas Greenhalgh ’15, and John McNiff ’15, have stepped up to take his place. Davenport, in particular emerged as part of the starting lineup in the fall season.

    The women’s team lost three seniors last year. The team is now composed of more underclassmen than upperclassmen, which is a big change, Alexandra Lipa ’13 said. But this change is not necessarily for the worse. The Bulldogs gained three new freshman, Shreya Ghei ’15, Marika Liu ’15 and Caroline Rouse ’15. Lipa said that the freshmen are helping to fill the hole the seniors left in the lineup.

    Both teams have their sights set on the Ivy League Championships, which will take place in late April. Members of the teams said they expect nothing less than a repeat of last season.

    “We won the Ivy title last year and intend on winning it again,” Lipa said in an email to the News. The main goal of the men’s team is also to defend its title, Hatten said. If either team wins another Ivy League title, it will continue competition in the NCAA tournament. The toughest competition in the Ivy League for the men’s team is currently Dartmouth, Davenport said. He added that Yale defeated Dartmouth in the fall season.

    The women’s team’s tournament against Georgetown will be its first since the fall, except for the Rio Verde tournament, which they competed in over spring break in Arizona. The team is eager to begin the season this weekend, Lipa said.

    The men’s team is also eager to begin its season.

    “I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re excited,” Hatten said.

    The men’s season opener will be hosted by Yale next weekend, April 7. A home tournament is an advantage, since the team has played on its own course many times, McNiff said. Due to this advantage and the team’s strength, if the Bulldogs play their best game, they could certainly win the tournament, Davenport said.

    The men’s team placed ninth at their spring break tournament, the Callaway Farms Invitational in Santa Fe, Calif.

  5. GOLF | Elis finish fall season

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    The Yale men’s and women’s golf teams wrapped up their fall seasons with seventh and fifth place tournament finishes this weekend, respectively.

    The men’s team competed against 14 teams at the Northeast Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, held at the Shelter Harbor Golf Course in Westerly, R.I. Although he did not place in the tournament, Brad Kushner ’13 said the team’s victory at the MacDonald Cup and its third place standing at the Adams Cup earlier this fall indicate the Elis will do well in the spring season and the Ivy League Championship.

    “The spring season is our most important season, especially the Ivy League Championship,” Kushner said.

    He added that the championship will motivate the team to continue to practice and improve during the winter offseason.

    Captain Jeff Hatten ’12 said the team had hoped for a first place finish to cap off the fall season but added that the team improved its playing in adverse conditions during the Northeast Invitational.

    “This weekend was great tournament experience as we played a challenging course in very windy conditions,” Hatten said.

    Although Dartmouth won the tournament with a final score of 594, the Elis finished with a total two-round score of 614 in two days of play. Sam Bernstein ’14 led the Bulldogs with a fourth place finish and a score of five over par.

    William Davenport ’15 finished his fall season with two solid final appearances. He shot a final score of 154 (+12) and tied for 26th place. Kushner finished with a score of 152 (+10) and tied for 16th.

    Hatten, who appeared in all the Bulldog’s tournaments this season, finished in 52nd overall. Carson Weinand ’13 rounded out the men’s side in 75th place.

    The women’s team finished fifth out of seven teams Ivy Teams at the Harvard Invitational this weekend.

    Coming off the Lady Pirate Invitational in Greenville, N.C. with a three-day score of 903 — the team’s best score of the season — two team members said they hoped to sustain their momentum at the Harvard Invitational.

    Captain Lily Boettcher ’12 said the Boston Golf Club’s course and conditions proved difficult to all competitors. Only one player — Columbia’s Michelle Piyapattra — managed to keep her score below 11 over par.

    “It was very windy on both Saturday and Sunday, which lengthened the course and made it difficult to hit targets,” Boettcher said. “The greens were also some of the trickiest I’ve ever played.”

    Boettcher said the putting green was small and the ball rolled on the cut grass quicker than the teams were used to.

    The Bulldog’s top finisher was Ivy League Player of the Year Seo Hee Moon ’14 who tied for 8th place and recorded a score of 160 (+16). Sun Gyoung Park ’14 finished two strokes behind Moon and tied for 12th.

    Alex Lipa ’13 ended the two rounds of play shooting 163 (+19). Shrey Ghei ’15, Marika Liu ’15, and Boettecher finished in 24th, 26th, and 34th respectively.

    The Bulldogs were the women’s golf Ivy League champions last year, and two returning players said they remain confident of the team’s prospects for the title coming into the spring season.

    “I am looking forward to the competition in the spring,” Park said. “We are going to fight to defend our Ivy League Champion title.”

    The women’s team resumes play March 10 at the Rio Verde Tournament in Rio Verde, Ariz.

  6. W. GOLF | Bulldogs post season best

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    Despite finishing in 14th place Monday, the women’s golf team made an impressive final round effort on Tuesday, placing in seventh place at the Lady Pirate Invitational in Greenville, N.C. The Elis finished with their lowest cumulative score of the season, 903 (+39). The tournament, held at the Greenville Country Club, featured several top ranked teams including Georgia State University, inter-league rival Penn, and host-team East Carolina University. After two rounds of golf on Monday, the Bulldogs ended the day with a total score of 606 (+30). However, an impressive turnaround Tuesday in the third round moved the team up seven places in the leader board and into seventh place with a three round total of 903 (+39). The eventual winner of the tournament, University of Maryland, finished with a score of 879 (+15).

    “Our team played really well today,” Seo Hee Moon ’14 said. “It was the best team total we have had all year.”

    Moon, last season’s Ivy League Rookie of the Year, led the way for the Bulldogs. After firing first day rounds of 76 and 69, Moon shot an even 72 to finish tied for seventh overall with a total score of 217 (+1), five strokes behind winner Samantha Morrell of Old Dominion. Although the entire team showed improvement in the latter rounds of the tournament, rainy conditions and a difficult course did not make second day adjustments any easier.

    “It wasn’t an easy course,” head coach Chawwadee Rompothong ’00 said. “I thought the team handled the conditions very well. Everyone looked good. I’m proud of them.”

    The rest of the Elis also played a pivotal role in turning the tides at the invitational. The women were able to establish themselves amidst a field of 20 teams and over 100 players. Sun Gyoung-Park ’14 finished her final round one over par and tied for 28th with a three- round score of 216 (+10). Alex Lipa ’13 finished two strokes behind and tied for 38th. Both Shreya Ghei ’15 and Joy Kim ’13 performed solidly with final totals of 232 and 242, respectively.

    The men’s golf team faced its own challenges at the Big Five Invitational in Plymouth Meeting, Penn. In the two-day tournament, held Oct. 8–9 at the Plymouth Country Club, the men’s team faced strong competition against 22 other teams. The Elis finished with a total score of 604 (+44) and tied with Cornell for 15th.

    Dartmouth eventually won the tournament with a score of 578 (+18). This marked the Big Green’s first victory off its home course since 1999.

    The course proved to be challenging for most players with only two players shooting par or under.

    “The course was really tight, and the greens were really quick,” Sam Bernstein ’14 said. “It made for a challenge both mentally and physically.”

    Bernstein finished first for the Elis with a final score of 147 (+7), tying for 21st overall. William Davenport ’15 also performed solidly and had a score of +9 over two rounds. Brad Kushner ’13 and captain Jeff Hatten ’12 finished four strokes and three strokes, respectively, behind Davenport. Davenport noted the team could have played significantly better given a more traditional, straightforward course design, but both he and Bernstein are confident in the defending league champion’s ability to win future tournaments.

    “We are very encouraged by our accomplishments to date,” Davenport said. “It’s going to give us a high level of confidence going into the spring season and also our efforts to defend the Ivy League title.”

    Both the men’s and women’s golf teams will be seeking a victory this weekend in their final competitions of the fall season. The men’s team finishes its season at the Northeast Invitational at the Shelter Harbor Club in Westerly, R.I. The women’s team will be traveling to the Harvard Invitational in Boston, Mass. looking to duplicate its performance last year, when Moon broke the course record and the team took first place.

  7. W. GOLF | Women meet goal, win Ivy Title

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    All season, the women’s golf team has been the Ivy League team to beat. On Sunday, the Bulldogs upheld their reputation and won the Ivy League Championship at the Atlantic City Country Club.

    Using a strong final round to cap off a solid tournament performance, the No. 1 ranked team in the conference won their first title since 2006, edging out Harvard by four strokes.

    After shooting the same score the first two rounds, the team improved by 17 strokes Sunday. The first place finish was a fitting result for the team’s seniors, who had finished in second the last two years. The team will now advance to the NCAA Regionals, which are from May 5–7.

    [ydn-legacy-photo-inline el_id=”25989″ ]

    Harriet Owers-Bradley ’11 contributed to the victory with the most consistent scores of the team, shooting +2 to finish in seventh on Sunday.

    “This victory just made my Yale career,” Owers-Bradley said.

    Captain Alyssa Roland ’11 was even more ecstatic, calling it “the best day of [her] life.”

    “Words can’t even express how happy I am right now,” she said. “It feels incredible to finally win after coming so close throughout my college career.”

    The team this year was bolstered by two freshmen who have made a notable impact, especially in the spring. Sun Park ’14 and Seo Hee Moon ’14 have led the team in scoring throughout the year, and played well over the weekend on the Atlantic City golf course. After shooting par the final day, Moon tied for third overall. After the tournament, Moon was not only named Ivy Rookie of the Year, but also Ivy League Player of the Year, and was part of the All-Ivy First Team.

    Park steadily improved her score until finishing with a final round of +2, tying for 12th place. Park attributed her first round struggles to an overly ambitious approach, and the weather, which continued to challenge the team into Saturday.

    “Not just our team, but everybody scored better the last couple of days,” Park said. “The difference was in motivation… We wanted to win really, really bad.”

    For the Elis, a team that has placed first in almost every tournament this year, finding their focus, or handling the pressure of expectation, could have been a challenge. After all, the team had gotten a taste of its own mortality when it placed fourth — its worst finish in months — two weeks ago at the Brown Bear Invitational. After the Brown tournament, Roland said she considered the result a “wake-up call.” With last weekend off, the Bulldogs said they were able to re-focus, emphasizing their short game.

    With an automatic bid to regionals, the Elis look to surprise those who don’t believe a team from the Ivy League can compete on the national stage.

    “We are ready to make history,” Roland said. “This is one of the best teams that the Ivy League has ever seen… We have absolutely nothing to lose and are going to play our hearts out at regionals in a couple of weeks.”

    If they finish in the top eight, the team will advance to the NCAA Championship, which is held from May 17–20.

  8. W. GOLF | “Wakeup call” for women’s team

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    It was a hole they could not climb out of.

    A late start time and deteriorating weather helped put the women’s golf team 18 strokes down to a hot-shooting Princeton team after the first day of the Brown Bear Invitational. Even after outshooting the Tigers on Monday to finish with a team score of 601, the Bulldogs still fell behind St. John’s and Harvard to finish fourth.

    “This weekend’s tournament was definitely a wakeup call for us,” captain Alyssa Roland ’11 said.

    Roland mentioned the staggered tee-off as a possible factor in the team’s bad start. Because Princeton teed off earlier in the day, the Tigers were able to take advantage of a calm morning which, by the time the Elis teed off, had turned into a windy afternoon.

    “While that is by no means an excuse for some of our scores that first day, we definitely could have shot lower with milder wind,” she said.

    Despite the weather, Roland and Seo Hee Moon ’14 were both able to tie for third individually, shooting two over par. Roland said the team’s experience playing in windy conditions gave the two players the preparation necessary, and that their short games were strong enough to get them out of trouble when they missed the greens.

    Other members of the team said they were prepared for a strong showing by the Tigers, but admitted that they were surprised at just how strong their opponents came out of the gate. Sun Park ’14 said it was good to see Princeton in order to prepare for the Ivy Championship. This year the tournament will take place at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, N.J.

    “We know what [the Tigers are] capable of so we know what we need to work on in order to beat them,” Park said. “We’re going to work hard so we can get our revenge at Ivies.”

    The team will not compete this weekend, giving them two weeks to prepare their short games for the small greens they will find in Northfield.

  9. W. GOLF | Female golfers take second, men seventh

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    The women’s golf team had to settle for second place for the first time this spring, after heavy rains forced the team’s attempted comeback victory at the Hoya Invitational on Tuesday to be aborted when the rain made the course unplayable.

    The invitational was also the first time that Seo Hee Moon ’14 did not take first individually this spring, shooting +13 to tie for ninth. Captain Alyssa Roland ’11 attested to the difficult winds that plagued the course for all 36 holes on Monday.

    “Today was definitely the worst conditions we’ve had to play in all year,” Roland said following Monday’s two rounds. The winds were estimated at 25 to 30 mph, a hindrance that was exacerbated by Georgetown’s open course that has few trees to screen players from the wind.

    But she said the team was able to keep their heads and persevere through the adverse conditions. Sun Park ’14 and Harriet Owers-Bradley ’11 tied for a team high score of +11, good for fourth place.

    “Scoring an 82 on the first 18 holes, I was definitely surprised to see I was in the top five at the end of the day,” Park said. Sacrificing distance for accuracy, Park’s adjustment to the wind allowed her to shoot a 73 for the next 18, tying for second-best individual round on the day.

    The only squad in the 17-team tournament that did place ahead of them was Nova Southeastern, which won by four strokes. NSU is a Division II school, meaning the tournament will count as a win for Yale in the national rankings, which split according to division. Nova Southeastern was last year’s D-II champion and is this year’s number one D-II team.

    “We were ready to go today,” Park said. “We wanted to go out there and win it all and keep the record going.”

    The other Ivy League teams present lagged behind the Bulldogs: Penn and Princeton fell by 9 shots; Harvard and Columbia by 28.

    The women’s team will face Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth and Brown at the Brown Invitational this Sunday, where they will see if they can best the record for wins in a single season. They currently have five.

  10. W. GOLF | Elis poised to break records

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    The women’s golf team is on a roll.

    After winning four of their five tournaments in the fall, the Elis haven’t missed a beat this season, going 2–0 so far in spring play. Fresh off a commanding victory over a field of 22 teams at the William and Mary Spring Invitational on March 20, they look to continue their streak at the Georgetown Hoya Invitational next Monday and Tuesday.

    At William and Mary, the Elis shot ten strokes lower than the next closest team, St. John’s, and were led individually by Seo Hee Moon ’14, who shot a 66 on the first day — six strokes under par. This year, Moon has taken first place at every tournament but one — the Nittany Lion Invitational in October.

    [ydn-legacy-photo-inline id=”4526″ ]

    That tournament was also the only time the Bulldogs have not taken first, placing sixth out of 17 schools. Moon subsequently led Yale to a comeback win at the Harvard Invitational, when she shot her then-personal record of 66, which included a hole-in-one.

    Since then, they have continued their win streak, beating Longwood University during spring break, and then winning the Spring Invitational.

    Her fellow classmate, Sun Park ’14, has said that the rest of the team is learning from Moon’s composure on the course.

    “She’s a very positive person … I really am grateful to have her as a teammate and a friend,” Park said.

    If not for an MCL sprain in her knee which kept her from early fall competition, Park could have been in nearly as good a position as Moon — she has placed second to her friend on two occasions, and hit consistently low scores.

    Aside from the formidable freshmen, there is a bevy of returning talent for the Bulldogs, including captain Alyssa Roland ’11 — Roland was last year’s Ivy League Champion — Harriet Owers-Bradley ’11, Lily Boettcher ’12, and Joy Kim ’13, who shot the team’s second hole-in-one of the season at the Spring Invitational two Sundays ago. They will be traveling to Georgetown for next Monday and Tuesday’s Invitational.

    “You must be playing your best golf to compete in the top five because there are others who are prepared to do so in your place,” Boettcher said.

    So far, the team has won five of its six tournaments this year, tying the Yale record for most wins in a season. With two more tournaments before the Ivy League Championship, the team is in position to set a new record of its own.

    Roland said the team as a whole is shooting more consistently and posting much lower scores; she called the group the most talented that Yale has ever seen, “by far.”

    The team is currently ranked first in the Ivy League, and Roland said that while their primary goal is to win Ivies, this is the first year where they have a legitimate shot of receiving an outright bid to the NCAA Regionals. From there, she believes they have the talent to make it to Nationals.

    “Looking ahead, we are looking to not only win the Ivy title but to make an impressive appearance at NCAA’s and prove that we are one of the top teams in the country,” Roland said.

    The team will tee-off next Monday against fellow Ivies Columbia, Penn and Princeton, amongst a field of other very competitive teams.

  11. GOLF | Spring season starts with a bang

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    Joy Kim ’13 notched a hole-in-one for the women, the men upset a nationally ranked team, and Yale golf looked hot in its return to competition after a hiatus of almost five months.

    The men added a second place finish in the George Washington Invitational after stunning No. 26 Notre Dame, while the women defeated Longwood in a dual meet and had a first-place finish in the William and Mary Spring Invitational over spring break.

    Seo Hee Moon ’14 paced the women to first-place finishes in its last two tournaments of the fall season, and the women picked up where they left off over a successful spring break. Moon and fellow rookie, Sun Park ’14, led the team to its first victory of 2011 as they shot an even par 70 and a two-over 72, respectively, in Yale’s 295–313 victory over Longwood Universisty in Lake Wales, Fla. on March 15.

    The team then flew north to Virginia for the William and Mary competition where the grass had not yet turned green, but the team kept its performance up. Moon’s Saturday six-under 66 round was the best of the tournament and tied a personal best, but it was Joy Kim ’13 who had the individual highlight of the weekend for Yale: a hole in one.

    Kim rode her big shot to an eighth place finish overall, and Yale won the tournament with a 30-over par finish, ten strokes ahead of second-place St. John’s.

    The men’s team returned to play on March 14 with a contest against heavily favored No. 26 Notre Dame. But, led by captain Thomas McCarthy ’11 and rookie Sam Bernstein ’14, the Elis eked out a narrow 606–607 win.

    “We rose to challenge and played the underdog role,” Bernstein said. “We tried to be as aggressive as could. If we lost, we were expected to lose. But if we won, we knew it would be a boost to the season.”

    Though the contest was decided by a razor-thin one-stroke margin, the Elis on the course did not know quite how close the score was. Bernstein said he imagined he had lost the match for the Elis when he missed a two-foot putt on the last hole. But Yale’s 303–305 lead from the first day held up, and Yale pulled off the upset. The team headed into the George Washington Invitational in Bethany Beach, Del. four days later with the momentum in its favor.

    But although the men rolled through the first round of the three-day tournament, they could not sustain that performance. The team finished with a higher score in each successive round — a 297 and a 303 after a first-round 285 — and finished in second, five strokes behind Penn.

    “Our first round was pretty fantastic,” Bernstein said. “But we fell off a bit and couldn’t build on the first day, which was disappointing. That will serve as a motivation going forward. While Penn is a a good team and has some talent, we feel like on our best day we should be able to handle them.”

    The men’s season continues with three more tournaments, including the Yale Spring Opener on April 2, before the all-important Ivy League Championships in late April. The women next play at the Georgetown Hoya Invitational on March 28.