First Years Lead the Way for Golf as Teams Tee Off Seasons

The men’s and women’s golf teams are in full swing after competing in two tournaments over the past two weekends. On Sept. 11 and 12, the men’s and women’s golf teams opened up their slate of fall tournaments at Middlebury and Hamilton, respectively, before travelling to Williams and Middlebury on Sept. 18 and 19 to round out their first two weeks of play.

Women’s Team:

The women’s golf team had an exceptional opening weekend at Hamilton where they finished second in the field of 15 teams. Their combined scores over Sept. 11 and 12 left them 10 strokes back of Williams which finished fifth at nationals last spring. Gihoe Sihoe ’25 turned in a stellar performance after she took home first place in her first college event, carding two exceptional rounds of 73 and 74 to win the overall medal by five shots. Jessica Huang ’25 also had a strong showing her first time on the college links shooting a 154 over two days to finish in fifth place. The sophomore trio of Jenny Hua ’24, Priya Bakshi ’24 and Ivy Haight ’24 wrapped up an impressive team performance for the Mammoths placing 17th, 25th and 36th in the strong field.

After an exceptional first weekend, the Mammoths came out firing again on Sept. 18 and 19 at Middlebury where yet again they took second place behind Williams. This time Huang took home first place by a clutch win in a one-hole playoff. Huang was exceptional over the weekend, shooting an opening round 73 followed by a second round 79 to put her in a tie for first with NYU’s Nalinda Wanikpun. With the pressure of a first-place finish on the line, Huang headed back to the first hole par-five. After knocking her third shot within 10 feet of the pin, Huang parred the hole for the win. At the team level, the event started well on day one, with the Mammoths tied with NYU for first place after the opening round. However, Williams put together a terrific second round as a team to take the event by twelve strokes over Amherst. Still, the Mammoths were electric across the board this weekend with Sihoe and Hua tying for 13th place, Bakshi finishing just one shot back of them to tie for 16th, and Jannelle Jin ’23 shooting 164 to finish in 22nd place, just two strokes back of Bakshi.

With two great finishes to start the season, the Mammoths will ride to Wesleyan next weekend with another opportunity to prove they belong with the nation’s best.

Men’s Team:

The men’s team kicked off the season by heading to the Duke Nelson Invitational where the Mammoths took on a competitive 23-team field hosted by Middlebury College. The Mammoths put out a consistent showing over the course of the two-day event, finishing ninth on the first day and tying for 10th on the second day, eventually finishing  in 11th place overall.

First-year Steven Chen ’25 was outstanding in his collegiate debut, shooting rounds of 71 and 78 to finish 16th in a field of 111 competitors. Carding the opening round 79 and the final round 77, fellow first-year Teddy Freking ’25 finished 49th overall as the Mammoths’ second-best finisher. Veterans Tommy Whitley ’24 and Brian Aslanian ’22 tied for 73rd place with matching two-day totals of 164. Erik Zetterstrom ’22 was right on their heels shooting 165 over the course of two days to finish in a tie  for 79th place.

The Mammoths then journeyed to the Williams Invitational for two days this past weekend, where they would finish 13th out of the 17 teams. Zetterstrom, Whitley, Chen and Freking all finished within four strokes of one another. Leading the pack was Zetterstrom, improving by eight shots from the previous tournament, tallying a 157. Whitley also cut down on his score from Middlebury to 158 followed closely by Chen shooting 159 and Freking 160. Senior captain Aslanian matched his 164 from the previous weekend to round out the squad. The Mammoths beat out Bowdoin by seven strokes in this event and will travel there on Sept. 25 for their next tournament.