By Jeffrey Preval
After fairing well in its preseason tournament versus Middlebury College, the Pride women’s golf team was at Central Connecticut State University’s Blue Devil Invitational on Oct. 8 and 9. On the second day, the women played the Lehigh Mountain Hawks University on the Oct. 10 and 11 in the Don Mershon Invitational at the Indian Valley Country Club.
While facing the women of CCSU, who haven’t played since finishing in eighth place at Mount Holyoke’s Tournament on Sept. 26, the Pride finished 11 out of 12 with a 735 total score. After the distasteful showing, Pride coach Bob Schwalb thought his team would do better, but in particular wished sophomore Tamara Bargiel backed her veteran leadership by performing well. Unfortunately for the Pride, Bargiel did the opposite and shot back-to-back 89 rounds against CCSU to give her a tie for 33rd place with two others Fairfield contenders.
Meanwhile, CCSU finished tied for fourth place with first and second round scores of 333 and 349 for a 682 total score, which was identical to Albany’s performance. The Blue Devil women, who were led two weeks ago by former NEC Women’s Golfer of the Week sophomore Leah Steinmiller’s 171 stroke, 17th place finish, were led by Steinmiller again last week. Steinmiller, who won the tournament, finished by shooting a 75 in the first round and an 82 in the second to tally a 157 total score.
Like the Pride women, the Mountain Hawk women, who entered the invitational with second place finishes in six in their last three tournaments, have a special freshman of their own.
Compared to the Pride’s Caitlin Munroe, Lehigh’s Alison Webb came into the tournament after she captured second with an 82 to finish tied for the top spot overall at the Mount St. Mary’s Fall Invitational two weeks ago. At Lehigh’s tournament in Telford, Pa., the Mountain Hawk women shot a 689 and finished second overall at the Don Mershon, as Siena University won the tournament with a 668. Meanwhile, the Pride women finished in fifth, as they posted a team 356 first round and a 353 for a 709 total.
Meanwhile, the Pride men, who were at Lehigh University on the 10th and 11th and came in last in a 16 team tournament at Cornell two weeks ago, were looking to rebound from on the road at Don Mershon. Unfortunately, for Schwalb and the Pride men saw themselves sink to 11 out of 12, with a 366 first round and a 369 second round for a 735 total score.
The Mountain Hawk men, who beat the Pride by 35 strokes two weeks ago, beat the Pride by 114 strokes to finish tied for fourth place with the University of Delaware.
Now, the Pride prepares for its Hofstra tournament at Bethpage County Club, which started this morning and will finish tomorrow afternoon. Schwalb, who hopes both the men and women improve, knows that before anything they must “take golf seriously to drop shots.”