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Men’s and Women’s Golf ace final week of fall season with tournament wins

Men's and women's victory photo

Both teams earned tournament victories to close out the fall season.

Every team hopes to close their season out on a high note. For both the men’s and women’s golf teams, their fall season went out with a bang.

Playing away from the home confines of Springdale, both the men’s and women’s teams captured tournament victories over the past few days to take some hardware with them into the offseason. For the men, it was a wire to wire victory in the Georgetown Hoya Invitational. For the women, the headed into the final round of the Brown Bear Fall Invitational tied for third, then surged over the final day to capture their second tournament victory of the fall. It was the best possible finish for both teams, who now turn to a few months of inactivity before returning to the course next semester.

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“Winning our last event before the offseason is a serious boost to our confidence and motivation” noted junior Evan Quinn. “We always knew we were capable of winning, but by accomplishing our goal we learned what it takes to win, so that hopefully we are even better prepared for our next opportunity.”

Quinn was a big reason why the Tigers took home first place in the Hoya Invitational. Jumping out to an amazing first round score of 65 (-6). From there, he did not look back as he followed up his first round with a -4 67 in the second round. Quinn acknowledged his finish to the second round as critical to his first place finish, noting “finishing with three birdies, it gave me a bit of a cushion going to the final round, which I ended up needing.” Quinn would go on to shoot a final round 74, but despite the over par performance finished clear of the rest of the field and took home the individual title. 

“I felt very relieved,” noted Quinn regarding his first individual title. “I’ve had a few other opportunities to win this year, and even last year, but came up just short...When I tapped in on 18, it felt like a weight had really been lifted, knowing I had finally broken through.”

Quinn’s individual victory was supported by the success of his teammates. Another notable standout was freshman Max Ting, who finished tied for third overall with a score of -3. Ting matched Quinn’s second round 67 and did enough to be only the third player in the tournament to shoot under par. Overall, the team finished with a score of +4 and earned their first team win since 2016.

“This is the first team win I have experienced since coming to Princeton, and sharing the success with my teammates has been really special.” said Quinn.

Not to be outdone by the men’s team, the women had a fantastic come from behind victory to notch their second tournament victory of the fall. Heading into the final round tied for 3rd, the Tigers earned clutch performances from junior Maya Walton and freshman Emma Zhou to take home the trophy in the Brown Bear Invitational. The Tigers won by 15 strokes and tied a set a tournament record for the lowest team score in the event’s history. 

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“As at team, we were unhappy with how we performed on Sunday” said Walton. “Going into Monday, every single one of us knew we had to perform well collectively if we wanted to win the tournament. With Monday being our last round of the fall season, we all wanted to perform the best we could.”

Walton and Zhou tied for second in the tournament after shooting even par. Both women shot under par in their final round to vault into the top three. Both players identified a key turning point in the round which helped lead them to success.

“I knew that I had to have a more aggressive strategy on the course on Monday. It was important to me that I stay positive and try to make as many birdies as I could to help the team finish with a win.” noted Walton.

“I was struggling on the first thirteen holes of the first round, not able to get a birdie and was 6 over” said Zhou. “But on hole 14, Coach DeSanty said to me, “this could be your best shot of the day” before I hit my approach shot onto the green. After that, I had more confidence in myself and finished the round with three consecutive birdies.”

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It was a successful weekend for both teams as they closed out the final days of fall. With no matches or tournaments scheduled until February, the Tigers can now take some time to soak in the successful performances, and prepare for the Ivy-heavy schedule in the spring. 

“Even though golf is an individual sport, it takes time to learn how to compete with each other and post good scores together.” said Walton. “ Finishing well is great motivation going into the offseason and Spring season.”