The men’s golf team is looking to improve on its seventh-place finish in the Ivy League last season, led by lone senior Eric Salazar.
“Last year was very disappointing to a lot of us,” Salazar said. “And I think it was the wake-up call we needed. I know as a senior I plan to work harder than I ever have before in order to get the most out of my game.”
Salazar is joined by four other returning players: sophomore Bernie D’Amato and juniors Patrick Wasserman, Evan Harmeling and Chase Lovett-Woodsum. Both Salazar and Lovett-Woodsum have already picked up victories for this season at Sunday’s tri-meet against Harvard and Yale, the first of the team’s five meets this fall. Despite coming in third in the tournament, Salazar remained optimistic about the upcoming season.
“Even after today, I honestly believe that when it comes down to it, when we play to our potential, we can play with any team in the country,” Salazar said.
“We all did what we needed to do this summer to prepare ourselves for the coming season,” Salazar said. “We are very excited for this season. The team is really coming together and we have a great team chemistry, which can be a big factor even in an individual sport like golf.”
These five returners are joined for the 2010-11 season by two freshmen, Greg Jarmas and Taylor Peck. Both freshmen are experienced and will add depth to the roster.
The 2010-11 women’s golf team returns three seniors — Rachel Blum, Maggie Boberg and Kate Scarpetta — as well as junior Wonji Choi and sophomores Tiffany Dong, Olivia Garard and Anna Jang. Kelly Shon is the only freshman on the team this season.
Shon brings with her a lot of experience, after competing in the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and winning an American Junior Golf Association tournament this summer.
“I'm excited to have Kelly here,” Scarpetta said. “I think she brings a lot of skill, energy and experience to our squad. She's a seasoned player and gels really well with the rest of the team. We've always relied on our team’s chemistry to get through the season’s challenges and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. It's going to be a great year.”
The women’s team is also joined by one other newcomer: new coach Nicki Cutler. Cutler replaces Amy Bond, who was the head coach of Princeton’s team for the previous four years. Bond has moved on to a sunnier climate and will coach at Florida State University.
Cutler was previously the assistant coach at Vanderbilt University, her alma mater, where she coached for three years. During her playing career, Cutler picked up honorable mention All-America and second team All-Southeastern Conference awards. She also toured professionally on the LPGA Tour and twice with the Duramed Futures Tour.
“Our new coach is pretty skippy,” said Scarpetta. “She's competitive and will definitely help all of us meet our goals.”
The Tigers are looking to improve on their fourth-place finish in last year’s Ivy League Championship, starting with their three tournaments scheduled for the fall. The team kicks off its season with the Princeton Invitational this weekend.
“I think we are going to have a lot of fun and a lot of success this year,” Boberg said. “I'm very much looking forward to this weekend and my final Princeton Invitational.”
“ ‘Epic’ is a commonly used word among our team that I think accurately describes the way we, as seniors, want to feel about our season when May rolls around,” she added.
This senior sentiment is shared by Scarpetta as well.
“As a senior, I'm just looking to prepare and execute as best as possible,” Scarpetta said. “I don't want to leave anything in the tank by the time I leave, so all cylinders are firing starting at the Princeton Invitational and continuing onwards to hopefully the postseason at the NCAAs. There's no reason we can't get there. It's just a matter of going out and getting it done.”
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