The Boston University women’s golf team embraced the new Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with force, confidence and pride this past weekend in Hanover, N.H., home of Dartmouth College’s Women’s Golf Invitational. The team finished 14th of 20 teams in its second competition of the season.’
Junior co-captain Ana Johnson led the team finishing in a tie for 17th place out of 105 golfers with a score of 159. She finished the first day with a score of 83 and cut down her score on the second day to 76.’
Following Johnson’s strong performance was classmate and co-captain Dana DeStefano, who finished in a tie for 64th place (83-86-169). Senior co-captain Kaitlyn Marduesz (74th; 85-87–172), sophomore Courtney Dampolo (82nd; 85-91–176), freshman Kaitlin Garske (T-97th; 95-91–186) and sophomore Jill Eelman (99th; 92-95–187) also competed with finesse and skill.’
BU coach Bruce Chalas was confident that the girls performed strongly and encouragingly in the tournament. He said they fought against tough morning weather conditions, and their driving was a clear strong point. Their tee to green play was probably the best Chalas had seen since he began coaching at BU two years ago.
DeStefano had been under the weather all week, barely able to practice, and turned it around for a great performance. She said she was happy with her 83 on the first day and had a 38 on the back nine, which was the lowest nine of her college career. Overall, Chalas said he was encouraged by the good ethics of the team.’
The team had a difficult time with its short game. Chalas was a bit concerned about this shortcoming because the girls have focused on their putting a lot in recent practices.
‘I was hitting the ball extremely well during both rounds, but really struggled with my putting and that showed in my score,’ Marduesz said. ‘It’s frustrating to be swinging well but not converting it on the green.”
It is still early in the season, and Chalas commented that getting into tournament thinking was still difficult for the girls. However, he is very optimistic for their future.’
‘We definitely can play competitive. [There’s] no questioning that,’ Chalas said. ‘It’s going to require a full commitment. We have the talent to do well, to be competitive, but we need people to be working diligently.”
The team is still short on much tournament experience, but with these first two weeks under its belt, Chalas anticipates the Terriers play will improve.’
Marduesz is also very optimistic for the future of the team.’
‘Our team has so much potential, we just have to convert it on the course and shoot the scores I know we can,’ she said. ‘We’re building up to our big tournament in North Carolina at the end of our fall season. If we stay focused and keep working hard, I think we can really be successful.’
Eelman, a sophomore, said she has benefited from the leadership of the team’s veteran golfers.
‘The older girls are always willing to help,’ she said. ‘I’d say the team’s biggest strong point is definitely our bond in that the girls were already close to begin with and then with two new additions they really welcomed everyone.’
The Terriers have two weeks off before three events in October, starting with a two-day invite at Rutgers University.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
