Men’s Golf Finishes Ninth of 17 at Mason-Dixon Collegiate
The men’s golf team at a tournament earlier in the fall (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College Athletics)
By Garrett Glaeser, Staff Writer
The Men’s Golf Team ended their fall season this past weekend with a ninth place finish out of 17 at the Mason-Dixon Collegiate at The Bridges Golf Club.
The team leaders were Jimmy Harcourt and Dane Sethre-Hofstad, who both finished at +8, tied for 18th. Danny Harcourt added a 19th place finish, with a +9.
“We did not play up to our potential this past weekend,” said sophomore Jimmy Harcourt, adding, “That’s the way golf is sometimes.” However, he also said that this tournament in particular had one of the stronger fields.
This was the worst finish for a talented Bullets’ golf team that has had a great amount of success this fall placing first in three of their six events.
At the Dickinson Invitational back in early September, the team finished first, beating the second-place finisher Dickinson by nine strokes. Similarly, at the Gettysburg Invitational on Oct. 3, the Bullets earned the title by a comfortable margin of eight strokes.
“I’d attribute the team’s success to how much depth our roster has. We have 10 guys capable of putting up solid scores every tournament. So each tournament we sent five players capable of winning the tournament. As long as we performed our best we knew we’d win,” said Jimmy Harcourt.
Last season the Bullets finished third in the Centennial Conference Championship, having not won the title since 2002. Rival Franklin & Marshall has won the CC crown nine times since 2007 with five consecutive from 2014-18.
But having just completed their strongest fall season in the past few years, the Bullets are poised to challenge F&M come springtime.
Harcourt also emphasized the three first-year additions to the team, Tristan Hochman, Matthew Kalamar, and Hayden Moffat, and their ability to perform well on a consistent basis.
In addition to new players, the golf team is under new leadership in Head Coach Nate Davis and Assistant Coach Kaleigh Boreman. Davis follows Coach George Petrie who in addition to heading the men’s basketball team, lead the men’s golf team for the past 24 years.
Davis has coached the women’s basketball team at Gettysburg since 2015 and takes up coaching golf again for the first time since 2013 where he headed the women’s golf team at Eastern University. Boreman, a graduate of Eastern in 2015, has been an assistant coach for Davis on the women’s basketball team since 2016.
Heading into the offseason, the weather will ultimately prevent the team from practicing outside regularly at their home course of Hanover Country Club. They’ll prepare using the Trackman simulator system indoors in addition to routinely working out in the gym.
Expectations for the spring remain high per usual for the team who only lost one senior from last year. Upon returning to campus, Harcourt said that he felt all the returning players had improved over the summer and hopes they will continue to show well when they start back outside.
The Bullets will need to continue to rely on their top players like seniors Dane Sethre-Hofstad and Danny Harcourt, who both had outstanding junior seasons in which they finished fifth and tied for sixth respectively at the Centennial Conference Championship.
Though placing well and winning events is important for the team’s growth and confidence, their top priority remains earning the conference championship. Prior to struggling in the event for the past near decade, the Bullets have finished in the top three two of the past three years, giving hope that come late April they dethrone the Diplomats and finish first to bring home the crown for the first time in 16 years.
