By Kyle Kandetzki - ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Both the men’s and women’s sides of the Pride brought their drivers and putters out this weekend, but the levels of success depend on which team you’re talking to.
Hofstra men’s and women’s golf both went on the road this weekend as their fall seasons near their midway point. The men came out in 6th at the Rutgers Invitational, while the women placed 12th at the Chesapeake Bay Invitational in Annapolis, Md.
The men’s team participated in their third consecutive weekend event, this time in Piscataway, NJ against 17 other teams.
The three-round event featured the first two rounds on Friday, with the final on Saturday.
The Pride found themselves fifth after day one, with Brandon Shin leading the way at three under par. Shin was the overall fifth best golfer on the day, sitting just sixth stokes back of the leading golfer from Fairfield University.
Shin posted the best overall score after the final round, hitting a 213, which was par for the course. But the best final round performance was from David Mecca, who shot par and finish at an overall +3.
Shin placed 9th overall, with Mecca coming in 14th. David Won would come in close behind with a +5 to come in 18. To round out the remainder of Pride players, Sean Cavnaugh would come in 51st with a +14, and Jonathan Farber would come in 79th with a +22.
Wofford College finished in first in the team competition, shooting just +7 overall, while Fairfield’s Steve Burak was the best solo performer, hitting 7 under par.
On the women’s side, Hofstra returned to action after a week’s rest to face off against 14 other teams at the Naval Academy Golf Course. The Pride were looking to rebound after a second-to-last place finish in the season’s first event.
Hofstra looked primed to improve after day one in Annapolis, as they sat in 10th as a team, and sophomore Jacquie Faldetta came in 5th overall.
But on the final day, scores started to slip for the Pride, and two squads passed them to put Hofstra in 12th for the competition. Faldetta would remain the best golfer on the team, even though she had her worst round of the event by seven strokes. A +12 in the final round would put her at 14th among all players.
Sophomore Victoria Snak would have the best final round with a 79 to put her at +32 for the weekend, an 45th overall.
Freshman Amanda Bigger came in one stroke behind Snak to take 48th, while Jai Ghuman and Shannon Haselton placed 58th and 61st, respectively.
The Pride men’s team has a quick turnover, playing in the Hartford Hawks Invitational on Monday and Tuesday, while the women are off until Oct. 6 when they play in the St. John’s Invitational.
