(Photo David Sinclair/Gettysburg Athletics)
By Max Ferguson, Staff Writer
Both the men’s and women’s golf teams had productive weekends at their Centennial Conference tournaments. Both teams traveled to Waynesboro Country Club to battle for the conference championship against a fierce competition of known contenders. In the end, both teams brought home their respective conference championships thanks to the efforts of their golfers.
The men’s team went toe to toe with a historic blue blood program in the Franklin and Marshall. The Diplomats men’s golf team had a four conference title streak going into the weekend. Thanks to a lights out performance by the Bullets, that streak is no more.
2024 Conference champion Daniel Suter ’25 led the charge for the Bullets. He turned in the lowest scorecard of the tournament, completing the 18 holes of the course in 68 strokes on Sunday. Suter’s lights-out performance on Sunday more than made up for the scorecards he turned in on Friday and Saturday which were two and one stroke over par respectively.
The Sunday comeback landed Suter in third place after play had ended. His podium finish, and overall season performance, earned him the honor of Centennial Conference player of the year and a selection on the All-Conference first team. Suter averaged a team best. 71 strokes per round over the course of 24 rounds.
Patrick Kilcoyne ’26 was on top of the leaderboard for the Bullets. Kilcoyne handed back to back scores of 70 on Friday and Saturday. An even scorecard on Sunday placed him at -4 over 3 rounds and a gold medal around his neck. Kilcoyne ’26 was also selected for All-Conference first team honors.
To add to the accolades, Myles Cunningham ’28 won Centennial Conference Rookie of the year. He currently stands as the top-ranked first year in the region. To complete the sweep on the weekend, coaches Jason Badecki and Brian Biscare won the Conference’s “Coaching Staff of The Year” award.
On the women’s side, the conference play dominance continued. Twin sisters Lucy and Chloe Barton ’27 respectively finished first and second on the weekend. To earn the gold, Lucy played her two best back to back rounds of golf, recording 161 strokes of 36 holes. Chloe, however, outscored her on the second day by turning in a 78 to the scorer’s booth. Chloe was the only golfer to turn in a sub-80 scorecard all weekend.
Natalie Boyd ’26 tied for fourth palace in the tournament after shooting an 89 and 83 respectively. Anne Harrower ’25 rounded out the Bullets in the top 10 by tying for sixth by shooting an 85 and 89 on the two rounds of the weekend. Ava Markunas ’26 shot an 87 and a 91 to round out the Bullets in the field and finished in 11th place. The next closest competitor, Marymount, ended the tournament 21 strokes behind the victors.
This marks the first time Gettysburg has won a women’s golf championship since 2019. Lucy Barton ’27 earned the honor of Centennial Conference Player of the Year. She, her sister, and Natalie Boyd ’26 were all selected as First Team All-Conference players. The women’s coaches, Kathy Murphy and Brian Leib, were honored as the Centennial Conference’s coaches of the year.
Both teams will compete in the Division III National Championships. The men will take Midvale Country Club in Penfield, New York from May 20-23 and the Women will battle for All-American honors at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia from May 13-16.
