Being “the freshman” on the team doesn’t always mean you can’t compete with the veterans. This past weekend two newcomers on the ETSU men’s and women’s golf team proved themselves amongst their team and competition.
The men’s team competed in the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Georgia, on March 17-19, where they placed 12th out of 15 at 11-over-par 875 (284-293-298).
Freshman Trevor Hulbert (Orlando, Fla.) led the Bucs each day of the tournament. He finished tied for 18th at 2-under-par 214. In the first day of the tournament, he shot a 3-under-par 69, in the second day he birdied six of his first nine holes on 3-under-par 69 again and 4-over 76 on the final day.
“It was a good experience overall to continue playing in tournaments with some tougher teams and some tougher fields,” Hulbert said. “It’s finally good to actually play well in a tournament like that. It’s a huge confidence boost for me to shoot some really good low scores and even at times when I wasn’t at my best I know I could still compete out there with them and I know I could have shot much lower than I actually did.”
Hulbert also finished with 16 birdies, which is his best collegiate finish.
Senior Mateusz Gradecki (Oborniki Slaskie, Poland) and sophomore Geuntae Kim (Daegu, South Korea) were also consistent last weekend. Both players also tied for 37th at 4-over-par 220.
The men’s team competes again this Friday in Franklin, Tennessee to play in the Mason Rudolph Invitational.
The women’s team traveled to Augusta, Georgia for the 3M Augusta Invitational where they finished tied for 7th out of 14.
Freshman Ankita Kedlaya (Bangalore, India) got things started for the Bucs in day one as she led the team shooting 2-over 74 and tied for 19th. Along with Kedlaya, senior Linda Dobele (Ogre, Latvia) finished day one with the most pars on the team with 14.
“She has matured leaps and bounds since she first got here back in August,” said Stefanie Shelton, the head coach for women’s golf. “It’s just exciting to see her play on the golf course. I feel like she’s learning new things about herself and her game and maturing every single day she plays on the golf course. She contributed a lot this spring and I’m very proud of her play.”
The Bucs finished day one in seventh place and bumped up to third on day two.
Dobele led the team on the final day with 2-over 74 on Sunday. She tied for 30th amongst the individual honors and ended with a total of 12-over 228 (76-78-74) for all three days.
The women’s next tournament will be on April 3 in the Intercollegiate in Jacksonville, Florida.
