Golf Struggles Through Week Two

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via gonyuathletics.com

The men’s golf team, through a strain to perform consistently, finished fourth in the Lake Placid Invitational this weekend.

Michael Thompson, Staff Writer

With a longer, more challenging course and trying pin positions on Sunday, the NYU men’s golf team struggled to remain consistent after their impressive season debut last week. The Violets finished fourth in a six-team field at the Lake Placid Invitational this weekend, with two players cracking the top ten.

The Violets played competitively on Saturday, finishing with a team score of 312, 16 strokes behind eventual champion Middlebury College and nine behind second-place Skidmore. However, Sunday was challenging, with the Violets shooting a combined 323 to lock into a  fourth place finish. Though the Violets fielded a fresh batch of players this weekend, the result was still a bit underwhelming.

Freshmen Jensen Li and Matt Shen were among those in a four-way tie for ninth place. Both played two consistent rounds on the 7,340 yard course. Li shot a five-over 77 on Saturday, but posted an 81 on Sunday, which elevated him two spots on the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Shen improved upon his Saturday 80 to shoot a six-over 78 on Sunday.

Elsewhere on the course, senior captain Eric Tarakjian finished tied for 13th with a total score of 159, while junior Bryce Holmes and freshman Kelly Sun finished in a tie for nineteenth with scores of 162. First-year Violet Justin Chan rounded out the Violets’ field in 30th, shooting a 171. Li and Tarakjian tied for the Violets’ best single-round score, posting a pair of 77’s.

The men are off next weekend, but return on Sept. 24 for the first leg of the Liberty League Championship in Baldwinsville, New York. The tournament kicks off in September, but the final two rounds will be played in April 2017.

Meanwhile, after a week off, the women’s team returns to action this weekend at the Ann. S. Batchelder Golf Invitational in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Sept. 12 print edition. Email Michael Thompson at [email protected].