Bullets Golf Teams Rack up Conference Championships
Both the Men and Women capped off a sensational conference run (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College Athletics)
By Garrett Glaeser, Staff Writer
This past weekend, the Bullets’ golf teams reigned supreme as both the men and women’s squads were crowned Centennial Conference champions, the first for the men since 2002, and the ninth straight for the women.
The wins gave the men their fourth overall conference title and the women their tenth since their program’s inception in 2001, which amounts to a conference championship winning percentage of nearly 53%.
Teeing it up at Brookside Country Club, the men’s team rallied from 15 strokes down heading into the final round and shot 295, 12 strokes better than second-place finishers McDaniel. Swarthmore, the clubhouse leaders after the first two days, struggled on Sunday, shooting 318.
Powered by their seniors Danny Harcourt and Dane Sethre-Hofstad, the Bullets won the event by 6 strokes, collectively shooting 937 (+85), followed by McDaniel at 943 (+91), and Swarthmore at 945 (+93).
Harcourt won first place individual honors and Sethre-Hofstad second at 225 (+12) and 229 (+16) respectively. In addition, Sethre-Hofstad fired a three-under 68 on Sunday, the best round of the entire tournament over the three-day stretch.
Just over an hour’s drive down from Brookside Country Club, the women’s team, playing at Conestoga Country Club, continued their conference dominance over the past decade.
Winning the conference championship has become almost a given for the women’s team, who carded a collective 694 (+134) – 25 strokes better than second-place Marymount at 719 (+159), and 39 better than third-place Dickinson at 733 (+173).
All five of the Bullets’ golfers placed in the top-15 of the tournament, with Skylar Frankiewicz ’20 continuing her exceptional season by placing second, two strokes back of Muhlenberg’s Aine Filler. Fellow junior Hannah Fireman placed fourth.
In addition, the women’s golf team has cemented themselves in Centennial history as they hold the record for most consecutive titles of any program.
As Centennial champions, both Gettysburg golf teams received the automatic qualifier to the National Tournament taking place from May 14-17.
The men will travel to Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky where last year’s winner Methodist will seek to defend their title. The women will head to Bay Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas on the same weekend, where they will seek to dethrone Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, first time champions last year.
This will be the men’s second appearance at Nationals and the first since 1994, the year where the team won their first conference championship. The women will make the trip to nationals for the sixth straight year.
Looking ahead to next year, the men’s team will lose the two senior standouts Danny Harcourt and Dane Sethre-Hofstad, as well as Christian Haldeman. Gillian Marini and Virginia Martin graduate from the women’s team.
However, despite the loss of great talent, both teams should be excited with the performances of underclassmen this season, especially at the conference championships.
The men’s team features freshmen Tristan Hochman and Quinn Greene, who both showed well this past weekend, tying for for 12th and 24th respectively. Sophomore Daniel Rieger also finished well, tying for 27th.
Similarly, the women have a foreseeable impact four-year starter in freshman Cameron D’Amica who placed T-11th at the championship. In addition, the women will enjoy one more year of Frankiewicz, Fireman, and fellow junior Katie McCarthy who placed 8th.
The Bullets’ golf teams started a trend that hopefully other Gettysburg spring sports teams will follow in the coming weeks. Both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, as well as women’s tennis, prepare for conference playoff competition in hopes to follow the golf teams and contend for a national championship.
