Braving the relatively chilly weather, the Brandeis Golf Team competed at New York University this past Saturday and Sunday. The Judges were able to place 10th and 11th at the Violet classic on what they considered to be a relatively difficult course. This competition comes toward the end of their season as they used this tournament to prepare for the big championship meets in the future.
Brandeis was able to post a combined score of 350 after the first day of competition, 66 points over par. This was good enough to have them leading over the United States Merchant Marine Academy and separated them from their nearest contender by only 8 points. The Judges were able to improve upon their score in the second day of competition as they posted a team total of 347 points for the second round of the contest. This kept them ahead of the Merchant Marines and solidified them in 10th place for the tournament overall.
Several individuals stood out for their performances this weekend. Ralph Harary 09 was able to lead the team this weekend with a combined two day total score of 169 strokes. Alex Podell 09 was just behind his teammate with 175 strokes overall while teammate Jeff Stein 08 was able to post a record of 179 strokes after two days of competition to rank third among Brandeis golfers. Both Nick Wallen 09 and Lee Bloom 10 finished off the Judges in scoring as they attained 183 strokes each.
The team was very optimistic about their recent competitions and about the future of their team as a whole. Teammate Aaron Hattenbach 09 was excited about their recent performances and has high hopes for the team. Our team is young and very talented Hattenbach explained, We have at least 5 guys that can post good numbers but we have had a hard time doing this in the fall. Hattenbach went on to say that the recent performance has given him much excitement and optimism for the finishing tournaments of the season. I am really excited for our next and biggest tournament of the year, New Englands, at Captains Golf Course in Cape Cod. He also explained that he knew the team would do well later on and has the potential to be one of Brandeis most acclaimed Varsity teams.
This competition comes at the end of the Golf season for the Judges, and they only have one more major tournament in store. They will play NEIGA Championships this upcoming weekend to officially close out this falls competitions. Still, the Judges have high hopes for their future and are happy with their recent performance.
