Golf: Both seasons culminate at Ancient Eight tournament

“We had some great tournaments, and at other tournaments we struggled,” head coach Amy Bond said. “It was very much an up-and-down year.”

The Tigers battled inconsistency and weather issues all season, even playing in their first tournament without having been able to play on grass beforehand.

“In every tournament, they went out there and adjusted to the situations that they were handed,” Bond said. “They did a great job of dealing with adversity and playing the best golf that they possibly could.”

The problem with playing in just nine tournaments all year is that the season seems to rush by.

“The season always flies by,” sophomore Wonji Choi said. “It always ends right when I seem to get on my groove and feel like I could play really well. It’s like after you play an 18-hole round — you feel like you could play so much better if you played another 18.”

The Tigers are losing only one person this year, senior Michelle Grilli.

This means that the team will not have to start from scratch next season and can look to the incoming class to add to its strong base of experience from this year.

“We definitely have a good year to look forward to,” Choi said. “Different people led the team each week, and all of us showed that we can play really well and each of us can contribute.”

“I am so excited for next year,” Bond added. “We have a great recruiting class coming in, including the No. 4-ranked junior in the country. We are going to be a young team, but one that is going to be fun to watch.”

The men’s team also played a total of nine tournaments. The Tigers season began in September with a loss to then-No. 1 Stanford in a single-opponent match and ended in of April with the Ivy League Championships, in which they placed seventh.

“We were disappointed with our season,” head coach Will Green said. “We battled inconsistency all season long and were never able to put together a solid tournament wherein all five players played well at the same time. We had several moments where one or two players played well, but never for a full tournament and never from the full team.”

“As difficult as this season was, however, there were a number of positives that we will carry into next season,” he added. “We will be returning five players who all have had significant tournament experience, and we anticipate all five returning next fall [to be] stronger and more consistent.”

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Princeton is losing four seniors: Juan Candela, Tom Klingman, Jake Skinner and Gregory Stamas.

The Tigers will have to look toward their underclassmen to lead the team, while the sole junior, Eric Salazar, will take the helm as team captain next year.

“Freshman Bernie D’Amato had a tremendous spring season, culminating in a fourth-place finish at the Ivy League Championships,” Green said. “He was perhaps our most consistent player all spring, and we’re confident that he’ll continue to improve.”

D’Amato earned a first-team All-Ivy honor for his performance in the Ivy League Championships.

“I am definitely looking forward to next year,” D’Amato said. “We are going to miss our seniors, but everyone has another valuable year of experience, and we should be ready to come into next season full force.”