The men’s golf team competed in the Yale Spring Invitational this past Saturday, finishing fifth out of a total of 13 teams. The Red finished with a team score of 46-over-par through their two rounds on the Course at Yale.
Despite the impressive showing, senior captain Brandon Eng expressed disappointment in the team’s results, claiming that their performance didn’t match the high expectations he holds for the team.
“To be honest, we were expecting to place a lot better,” he said. “I still feel we have not yet played the best we can as a team.”
Nevertheless, Eng feels the Red is on the verge of realizing its potential and believes that this modest result should motivate them going into the Ivy League Championship this weekend.
“I think that our good but not great finish will motivate us to work hard this week to do well this weekend,” he said. “We know that we have the ability to win — we just have to stay focused.”
The men’s team competes in Yale’s fall tournament at the same course each year. However, the team has not had a chance to compete in the Spring Invitational since 2013. According to Eng, the Red appreciated getting an opportunity to play the course in the warm spring weather again.
“It felt nice to play the course in warmer conditions,” he said. “Usually in the fall, it is extremely cold and miserable.”
While pleasant, the spring weather provided its own particular challenges.
“The toughest part was the putting greens,” Eng said. “They were extremely tricky and slightly bumpy as they were still recovering from the winter.”
This made putting pretty difficult.
“There was some frustration as we weren’t making as many putts as we were used to,” Eng said.
Junior Luke Graboyes continued his momentum coming off his 12th-place, one-over-par finish at the Princeton Invitational with yet another impressive showing, earning his third top-five finish of the season with a two-round total of eight-over par.
“Graboyes has been one of our most consistent players all season,” Eng said. “He knows how to improve and how to become a better player.”
Eng believes that this weekend was a good indicator that the Red should be confident heading into the Ivy League Championship this coming weekend.
“This weekend was a reminder that we are a strong team and that we should be confident going into the Ivy Championship,” Eng said. “We didn’t play our best, and we still placed in the top five teams.”