The Boston University women’s golf team concluded its season with a second-place finish at the Hartford Invitational Tournament on Monday. In their third match in four days, the Terriers shot a collective 348, which put them 13 strokes behind first-place finisher Long Island University. The University of Hartford, Central Connecticut State University and Sacred Heart University rounded out the field, respectively.
BU sophomore Leah Johnson shot a five-over-par 78 to win the individual competition. This performance came one day after her second place showing at the Northeast Championships on Sunday.
‘She has really been on a roll for us,’ said BU head coach Cammy Landry.
After a disappointing showing in the fall season, the Hartford Invitational marks the third consecutive second-place finish for the spring version of the Terriers.
Aside from Johnson’s performance, Landry also attributes some of the team’s success to the leadership of sophomore co-captain Nicole Schiffer.
‘Nicole looked at the first half of the season,’ Landry said, ‘and she came up with the fact that [her slow start] could be due to lack of conditioning. I give her sole credit for that.’
Before the Massachusetts State Championships on Saturday, the Terriers had not played a match since the Rutgers Invitational on October 18-19. During the time off, the team focused on improving conditioning, a strategy that paid off over the weekend.
‘They played the whole [spring] season in four days due to weather,’ Landry added. ‘The fact that they played well is very impressive.’
On a team comprised of no seniors, only one junior and three sophomores, Landry is already looking forward to next season.
‘I think we should be really pleased with where we are right now. We will only get better,’ the coach said.
The BU men’s team also saw action on Monday and Tuesday at the America East Championships. The Terriers posted a two-day score of 660 en route to a third-place finish in the field of four. They placed ahead of the University of Vermont, but behind Binghamton University and Hartford, respectively.
The team had lost to Vermont earlier in the season, but the Terriers edged the Catamounts by four strokes at the championships.
‘I like to think of us and Vermont as the Northern part of the conference,’ said BU men’s head coach Gary Skrinar. ‘We won the ‘Northern Conference.”
Senior captain Rob Klare tied the BU record for best individual showing by finishing in a tie for fourth with Hartford’s Dean Carrigan, shooting a four-over 148 in 36 holes. Klare tied the record set by former Terrier Paxton Song in 1992.
The match was the ninth and final competition of the year for the men’s golf team. Next year, the Terriers will look to replace five players, including Klare and fellow senior Jim Scott this year’s two leading scorers.