Saturday, April 4, Monday, April 6, Tuesday, April 7 and Wednesday, April 8, William and Mary women’s and men’s golf competed in the Carolina Challenge Cup at North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C. and the Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge at True Blue Golf Club in Pawley’s Island, S.C. At the Carolina Challenge Cup, Tribe women’s golf finished ninth of 13 with a 619 (+59), and the men finished sixth at the Golfweek/Stiftel Spring Challenge.
Round one began early with an 18-hole shotgun start. The Tribe finished in seventh place at the end of the round, with a 303 (+23), led by freshman Reagan Garnsey. Garnsey finished the round with a 68 (-2), including a three-hole birdie stretch on the par-five 15, par-four 16 and par-three 17. This marked Garnsey’s first sub-par round of her career. The next best Tribe cards were sophomore Jennifer Osborne and junior Katie Suk’s 77 (+7).
The second round commenced that same afternoon with another shotgun start. The Green and Gold carded a 316 (+36), dropping to ninth place, while Michigan State took home first with a total of 552 (-8).
Garnsey recorded another strong round, carding a 71 (+1) and sharing fifth place overall with Michigan State freshman Lucia Valderrama at a total 139 (-1) on the day. Garnsey’s performance marked the seventh-best 36-hole and the best par-70 score in program history. Osborne finished with another 77 (+7), tying with three others at 154 (+14) and 41st overall. Suk finished tied in 59th with a 163 (+23), and senior Avery Thompson tied in 61st with a 164 (+24).
At True Blue Golf Club, men’s golf finished sixth out of 16 teams, led by strong play from freshman Talon Dingledine.
The first-round score of 290 (+2) proved to be the Tribe’s worst. Dingledine finished with a 71 (-1), thanks to birdies on both par-fives on the front nine. Junior Preston Burton carded an impressive 72 (E) on the first day, followed by a 73 (+1) from graduate student Matthew Monastero and a 74 (+2) from freshman Eli Felty. Sophomore Grady Williams finished with a 76 (+4). Overall, the Tribe ended the round in third place.
The Tribe recorded its best performance of the tournament during the second round. Dingledine finished with another 71 (-1) due to a string of birdies to begin the back nine. Monastero also finished under par for the round with a 71 (-1). Burton carded another 72 (E), while Williams and Felty finished just behind with 73 (+1) and 74 (+2), respectively. Overall, however, the Tribe’s 287 (-1) was not enough to keep the team in third place.
William and Mary carded a 286 (E) in round three to finish the challenge in sixth place with a total of 865 (+1).
Dingledine once again shot under par with a third-round 70 (-2) that placed him seventh individually with a 212 (-4). The tournament marked his sixth top-10 finish of the season, the third most in a single season in program history. Burton finished tied in 13th with an overall 215 (-1), helped by an under-par third round. Felty carded a 219 (+3) for the tournament to tie for 29th, while Monastero finished one shot back at 220 (+4) in a tie for 34th. Williams finished tied in 60th with a 226 (+10). Connecticut finished first across the three days with an 849 (-15).
Friday, April 17 to Sunday, April 19, the women’s team will hit the road once again for the Coastal Athletic Association championship at The Clubs at St. James in Southport, N.C. The men’s team next competes on Monday, April 13 and Tuesday, April 14 in the West Virginia Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, W.Va.
