Tough Weather Plagues Golf in Hershey

Michael Thompson, Sports Editor

The pros may be preparing for Augusta next week, but the NYU men’s golf team was busy competing in the Hershey Cup in Pennsylvania. Surrounded by chocolate, amusements and unseasonably cold weather, the Violets finished the first day in 12th place of a 15-team field.

Junior Eric Tarakjian was the Violets’ low scorer, finishing the first round with a 10-over par 81. After going +3 on the third and fourth holes, Tarakjian parred the fifth before falling behind with a double bogey on the sixth. Though he finished +6 on the front nine, he played a bit better to finish, going +4 on the back, including a birdie on the par-4 18th to finish the day.

Freshman Qizhi Wong fell into a similar pattern — struggling early before finishing stronger in the final nine holes. After a difficult +7 stretch on holes two through five, Wong steadied himself, finishing the front nine +2 on the final four holes. He showed improvement in the second half of his days, birdying the attackable par-5 14th en route to a score of 85, 14 over par. Still, Wong thinks he and his teammates could’ve performed better if the conditions were ideal.

“Winds were tough and it was cold,” Wong said. “Everyone was struggling and it was a grind from the first hole.”

Freshman Lucas Oberholtzer — who played as the team’s number one — and junior Matthew Love finished tied for third, finishing with scores of 89. Oberholtzer had great difficulty on the front, shooting over par on eight of nine holes to put himself in a 13 over par hole. However, he too showed poise on the back, putting together a stretch of four consecutive pars before finishing the final two holes with a bogey and double bogey. Meanwhile, Love bogeyed his first four holes before parring the fifth. He then faced a trying two holes, quintuple bogeying sixth and triple bogeying the seventh. Somehow, Love responded with two straight pars to finish the front nine at +12. He was shaky on the back too, alternating pars with bogeys before finishing the final three holes at +2.

Senior Julius Oppenheimer rounded the field with a score of 92. Like Love, Oppenheimer was plagued by several difficult holes, especially his first, which he also quintuple bogeyed. However, he had his high moments as well, parring seven holes during the day. He also struggled to cross the finish line, going +6 in the final three holes.

The men are back in action for the second round tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, the women’s team begins the NCAA Division III Spring Preview tomorrow in Houston, Texas.

A version of this article appeared in the April 4 print edition. Email Michael Thompson at [email protected].