WGolf Takes On Yale Intercollegiate This Weekend
9/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
NEW HAVEN, CONN. - The Seton Hall women's golf team will take its recent strong play to the Yale Women's Intercollegiate this weekend.
Designed by champion golfer and co-founder of the USGA Charles Blair Macdonald, the par-71, 6,044-yard Yale Golf Course is an exemplar of the early American golf course and has consistently been voted the number one college golf course in America.
In addition to Seton Hall, the field this weekend will include two Yale teams and 14 other teams, including Albany, Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Central Connecticut State, Dartmouth, Harvard, LIU-Brooklyn, Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac, Rutgers, Sacred Heart, West Florida and Xavier.
This is a tournament that Seton Hall knows well as it's making the trip to New Haven for a fifth straight fall. The Pirates have notched top-5 finishes in each of the last two years, but hope to vie for the title this weekend.
"After finally conquering the Bucknell Invitational in five tries earlier this year, it would be really nice to take home a title in our fifth try at Yale," said head coach Sara Doell. "We're playing some of our best golf right now, so I look forward to see how we fair in familiar surroundings amongst a strong field."
Last season, Ali Kruse (Overland Park, Kan.) and Erin McClure (Tucson, Ariz.) tied for fourth among 91 individual golfers at 8-over-par. Megan Tenhundfeld (Loveland, Ohio) finished just one stroke behind to tie for ninth place at 9-over-par.
All three golfers will return for the tournament this weekend. Kruse, McClure, McKenzie Cutter (Waldorf, Md.), Karlie Zabrosky (Erie, Pa.) and Cassie Pantelas (Canton, Ohio) will compete for the team. Tenhundfeld and Macky Fouse (Aliquippa, Pa.) will play as individuals.
Collectively, the Pirates are currently playing some of their best golf in program history. Seton Hall opened the fall season with a team title at the Bucknell Invitational and followed that with a third place finish at the William & Mary Invitational last weekend. Seton Hall shot a final round, 291, at William & Mary, to improve 23 strokes from its first round score to finish one stroke behind Morehead State for second place. Their 291 is a program-record for a par-72 course.
The program record for a par-71 course was set last season... at the Yale Intercollegiate.
For a second straight tournament, Zabrosky emerged as the team's closer. At Bucknell, Zabrosky shot a career-best 71 to lead Seton Hall to the team title. At William & Mary, she turned in her career-best again with a 2-under-par, 70, her first career collegiate sub-par round. She finished in a tie for 25th place with a 16-over-par, 87-75-70-232. Not to be out-done by her teammate, Cutter also fired a career-low in the final round. The redshirt junior shaved five strokes off her second round score to finish with a 1-over-par, 73, besting her previous career-low by two strokes. Cutter also tied for 25th place with an 81-78-73-232.
Lost in the exploits of their teammates' final rounds were the strong tournaments of lineup regulars Kruse and McClure. Kruse was her usual consistent self, notching her second straight top-10 finish of the season with a team-best 6-over-par, 75-72-75-222. She finished in seventh place. McClure tied for 16th place among the 70 individual golfers improving each round. The senior turned in a sparkling 1-over-par, 73, in the final round to finish at 12-over-par with an 80-75-73-228.
This weekend, the teams will play two rounds on Friday and a final 18 holes on Saturday. Complete results of each day's events will be available at SHUpirates.com.
