Men’s golf completes fall 2016 season
Sophomore Dane Sethre-Hofstad tied his second-lowest round of his career during day one of the Ted Keller Memorial Tournament.
Photo credit: David Sinclair, GC C&M
By Claire Healey, Staff Writer
The Gettysburg College Men’s Golf team took second place at the Ted Keller Memorial tournament hosted by Randolph-Macon College, Oct. 10-11, to complete its 2016 fall season. The Bullets shot a total of 616, while Franklin and Marshall College took the team title at 601.
Leading the way for the Bullets was sophomore Dane Sethre-Hofstad. Being a medal winner twice during his first-year season, Sethre-Hofstad came back to close the fall season with another victory. He held off Franklin and Marshall’s senior Stephen Colodny by only one stroke. Sethre-Hofstad shot a first round, even-par 70, and he closed day two with a 77 to card a 147.
“Individually, I thought that I could have played better this fall,” said Sethre-Hofstad. “I was really happy with the way this tournament went. I was able to keep up my lead from Monday, and I’m hoping to take this success and keep it up moving forward into the spring season.”
Sethre-Hofstad’s success earned him the title of the Centennial Conference’s Men’s Golf Athlete of the Week.
The rest of the Gettysburg squad also gave solid performances, with each one improving from his day one scores. Sophomore Danny Harcourt carded a 153 to tie for 14th. Christian Haldeman, another sophomore, was just one stroke off Harcourt’s score, with a 154, earning him a tied 17th place finish among the field of 93.
In the spring 2016 season, Harcourt led the way for the Bullets by finishing tied for second and receiving rookie of the year awards for his performance. First-year Ethan Murphy competed as the only first-year on the Gettysburg squad and tied for 54th with a score of 164. Sophomore Jeremy Haas rounded out the Bullets with a 166 to finish tied for 62nd.
The combined efforts of Sethre-Hofstad’s individual victory and the steady improvement of the rest of the team gave Gettysburg the opportunity to move up in the standings for round 2. The Bullets finished Mondays first tied for 3rd with Ferrum College and Bridgewater College, behind F&M and Marymount University. By the end of Tuesday, the boys were tied for second with Bridgewater College behind Franklin and Marshall.
“I was pleased with the way the team played in round two,” said head coach George Petrie. “Dane had a great round one and then continued his success for round two, and the rest of the team stepped up for the second day. Franklin and Marshall is always a tough competitor as they are the defending Centennial Conference champions, but our team played quite well.”
The Gettysburg men finished as runners up to Franklin and Marshall in last spring’s Centennial Conference Championships.
“After last spring and the continuation into this fall, we generally see Franklin and Marshall as our biggest rivals within the conference even though there are so many competitive teams,” said Sethre-Hofstad. “We’re really hoping to be even more competitive against them and everyone else in the spring and our ultimate goal is to really compete for the conference title.”
“The fall was a solid effort by our team, but we felt we could have done a little better,” said Coach Petrie. “We definitely need to be more consistent on putting and short game for the spring. Our team chemistry has been really solid this fall, so I’m hoping to continue that into the spring,”
The Bullets now have a few months off to practice and prepare for the spring season which begins in March. The Bullets will return to compete for the Centennial Conference title and a chance to earn a bid at the NCAA championships.
