Brody Gilkison

2:57 am, Oct 04, 2024

Courtesy of Yale Athletics

The Yale men’s and women’s golf teams were back in action this past weekend. The women’s squad traveled to New Jersey to play in the Princeton Invitational at Springdale Golf Course, while the men’s team sent two golfers to the Sacred Heart Classic, played at Great River Golf Club.

Coming off a strong finish at the Nittany Lion Invitational, the women’s team was looking to build on their strong start to the fall season as they traveled to Princeton. On the first day of the tournament, the Bulldogs got off to a slow start. Selena Tang ’27 led the way with a nice round of 73 (+2), and Ashley Yen ’26 followed that up by carding a 74 (+3).

Mia Sessa ’26 posted a solid 75 (+4), and Alexis Kim ’25 rounded out the team score for the day, finishing with an 82 (+11). Sophie Simon ’25 and Joanne Lee ’27 also played, finishing with 83 (+12) and 84 (+13), respectively. A team score of 304 (+20) slotted Yale in a tie for fifth heading into the second round.

Looking to shake off the rust from Day 1, the Bulldogs came out firing, posting low numbers left and right. Sessa started the scoring off with an even-par 71 and was followed up by Kim firing a 72 (+1), a ten-stroke improvement from the following day.

Yen posted her second consecutive 74 (+3) for the invitational, and Simon carded a 77 (+5) as the fourth and final score counting towards the team total of 294 (+10) for Yale. Lee and Tang also played well, finishing with a 78 (+7) and 79 (+8), respectively. This strong play jumped the Bulldogs up into second place on the team leaderboard, trailing only Princeton heading into the third and final day of the invitational.

On day three of the tournament, the Bulldogs sat thirteen shots behind the Tigers and just one shot clear of the Georgetown Hoyas. Again, Sessa led the way for Yale, posting her second even-par 71 of the invitational. Kim and Lee continued with their strong play as well, both posting rounds of 75 (+4). Simon carded a 77 (+6), and Yen finished with an 82 (+11).

Yale fired another sub-300 round, finishing with a team score of 298 (+14). Unfortunately, the Hoyas came in with a team score of 294 (+10), which was just enough to edge out the Bulldogs for the runner-up spot and leaving Yale with a solo third team finish. The Princeton Tigers claimed first after finishing with an impressive team score of +11 over all three rounds of the invitational.

The Yale Women’s Golf team will be back in action on Oct. 19 and 20 when they travel to Rehoboth Beach to take on the Lady Blue Hens of Delaware.

On the men’s side, the Bulldogs sent two golfers to take part in the Sacred Heart Classic earlier this week. Will Lodge ’26 led the way for both Yale and the rest of the field, posting rounds of 68-76-70 to become the medalist of the event. His three-round total of 214 (-2) finished him three shots clear of the second-place finisher, Robert Arnorsson of Manhattan College. Andrew Stickel ’27 also competed in the event, where he placed T32 for the event out of 57 golfers.

Yale Men’s Golf competes next at the Hamptons Intercollegiate from Oct. 7-8 at the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, NY.