Penn men's and women's golf compete in weekend invitationals

Both Penn men's and women's golf wrapped up competition in rivals' Ivy League territory this weekend.

The men's team continues to follow an upwards trajectory at the renowned Yale Golf Course, a 54-hole event held on Sept. 25 and 26. As a whole, the team posted the best score on Sunday's final round, which ensured their fifth-place finish — just three points over sixth-place Princeton — with a final score of 876.

After a disappointing start to the season, finishing 14th out of 16 at the Ryan T. Lee Memorial Intercollegiate Cup, the men's team has had successive improved performances.

Once again, senior Mark Haghani led the Quakers, shooting a 71 and 73 on Saturday and one-under-par (69) on Sunday. He ended the weekend at three-over-par — which was good for ninth out of 77 golfers who completed all three rounds — and led the tournament with 43 pars.

Other strong performances came from senior Carter Prince, who ended the weekend at 220, and junior Harrison Ornstein, who finished at 221, tying for 24th and 29th place, respectively.

Ahead of Penn, the host Bulldogs won the event with a score of 846, with Harvard placing third.

Unfortunately, the women's team is still struggling to tread water, finishing 12th in their competition for the second time in a row at the Princeton Invitational. The 54-hole, par-72 event took place at the Springdale Golf Club from Sept. 25 and 26. Penn finished with a three-round score of 923, shooting 312 in the first and third rounds and 299 in the second round, while Princeton easily won the team title with 15 strokes ahead of Columbia.

Senior Mary Shin had a very strong solo performance, in particular shooting a one-under-par (71) on Saturday, which was good enough for a team-leading three-over-par 219. She finished 10th out of a field of 69 golfers who participated in the entire weekend.

Junior Selina Li also scored in all three rounds for Penn and tied for 39th overall with a score of 229. Senior Leila Dizon participated in the tournament as an individual, outside of the team, and shot a 74, 79, and 74, ultimately tying for 32nd to finish with the second-best score of participating Penn athletes.

Looking to bounce back, the women's team will rotate out with the men's team to compete at the Yale Golf Course on Oct. 9 and Oct. 10. The men's team will have a faster turnaround, with their last fall tournament hosted by Loyola in East Hampton, N.Y. on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5.