Women’s golf takes home a victory at the Gettysburg Invitational
Sophomore Samantha Sessa earned her sixth weekly Centennial Conference Golfer of the Week honor.
By Claire Healey, Staff Writer
The Gettysburg College women’s golf team continued its’ incredible success this past weekend with a team victory at the Gettysburg Invitational in Hanover, PA. After winning six tournaments last fall, Gettysburg opened their spring season with two back-to-back team titles, including the most recent victory at their own invitational.
Leading the charge was sophomore standout Samantha Sessa who placed first overall. With the only score in the 70’s, Sessa came first in the competitive field of forty-three players. This marked her tenth career individual victory, as well as her eighth college score in the 70’s, which ties her with Kara McNulty ’14 for a program record.
The back nine allowed for some very low scores for the whole team, but Sessa in particular showed her skill on the back half of the course. Sessa was able to shoot one-over on the back nine including a birdie on the par-five, 429-yard twelfth hole. With many opportunities for pars and even birdies many players lowered their score.
Junior Sarah Hansen also continued her impressive 2015-2016 season, shooting an eighty-five to place solo fifth overall. This was her seventh top five finish of the season, which represents the impressive depth and skill of the Bullets this season.
“Our team is extremely deep. We have eleven girls! As five girls compete in each tournament for the team, there is much competition for that fifth position,” Hansen said.
The Gettysburg women have only grown and strengthened in their last five or so seasons, making them heavily favored to repeat as Centennial Conference champions.
Also adding to the Bullets depth were sophomore Fontaine McFeaters and senior Kate Schwartz who tied for fourteenth with as score of ninety-five. Junior Lynn Hatcher rounded out Gettysburg’s ‘A’ team with a score of ninety-nine and a twenty-fifth place finish.
Gettysburg’s ‘B’ team also showed impressive depth, and fought for a potential place on the ‘A’ team. Leading the team were first-year Virginia Martin and junior Nicole Petrocchi who tied for eighteenth with a ninety-six.
Sophomore Caroline McDonald shot a ninety-seven to place twenty-second, while first-year Gillian Marini put up a 103 and placed thirty-first. Finishing out the ‘Blue’ team was sophomore Emma Feeney who placed thirty-six with a score of 112. Gettysburg also had one player who competed as an individual. First-year Kiera Cooney finished thrity-fourth with a score of 107.
“So far in the Spring season, we have had two tournaments. It is always hard to play after the winter offseason, so although our scores are higher than our fall tournaments, we are all pleased with our early success. We have won both the tournaments and are looking forward to the rest of the season,” said captain Kate Schwartz.
Gettysburg was able to continue upping their game throughout the offseason with the use of the Trackman facility. According to Hansen, “We have been able to work on our swings all winter, and are receiving state of the art statistics and numbers for each of our hits.”
Gettysburg will compete in four more tournaments before they compete in the Centennial Conference Championships.
“We are expected to win Conferences again, and all of us are excited for the opportunity to compete. Each year our team and conference is growing, and this Championship may have the best field in the Centennial Conference history. I am excited to see what our girls are capable of,” said Schwartz.
Gettysburg only competed once this past weekend, as the Franklin and Marshall Invitational was cancelled due to cold temperatures and wind. The Bullets will compete next in the Lebanon Valley Invitational on April 9.
