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The Yale women’s golf team tied for second at the Yale Invitational over the weekend with two players placing within the top ten. 

The Bulldogs hosted 10 other teams at the historic Yale Golf Course on Saturday and Sunday. Boston College finished first with a team score of 14 strokes over par, while Yale and Boston University tied for second place with final scores of 25 over par. Yale led the five Ivy League teams present and Elis Ami Gianchandani ’23 and Kaitlyn Lee ’23 ranked fourth and tenth individually, respectively.

“I feel like our team played pretty well this past weekend,” Lee said. “It was definitely nice to have our friends, family and alumni out there supporting us and cheering us on. We came into the weekend with a positive mindset and were well prepared for our home event. I think we all definitely left some shots out there, but overall I’m proud with how our team performed and am excited to see how we can grow from this experience as a team.”

The Bulldogs started off strong by finishing first at the end of the first round with a score of eight shots over par. Captain Gianchandani tied for first place in this round with a score of three shots under par and Coco Chai ’23 tied for seventh with an even score. The Blue and White dropped to third by the end of the second round, but came back on Sunday to tie for second place in the final round.

The team overall had the second-best par-4 average (4.22), the second-most birdies (33) and the second-most pars (163). In all of these categories, Yale led the Ivy League teams present. Gianchandani had the second-best par-4 average in the tournament with an average of 3.97.

“We played a lot of good golf this weekend but unfortunately weren’t able to come out on top,” Gianchandani said. “We were able to stay in contention the whole time and have a lot to learn from how we played. We are excited to have come in second place but are even more motivated to win the next event now.”

Overall, five Elis placed within the top twenty: Chai tied for 13th place while Alexis Kim ’25 and Ashley Au ’24 tied for 18th. 

This home tournament comes two weekends after the Bulldogs placed fourth at the Princeton Invitational and after their season-opening win at the Boston College Intercollegiate at the beginning of that same week. Additionally, this home invitational comes after Yale Athletics announced an agreement with Hanse Golf Course Design to restore the Yale Golf Course. 

“The support we have received from Peter Palacios and Jeff Austin and their staff at the Yale Golf Course is really setting us up for success at home and on the road,” Coach Lauren Harling told the News prior to the tournament. “We are really enjoying working with them day in and day out.”

The Bulldogs will travel to Hastings-on-Hudson, New York to play their final invitational of the fall season from Monday, Oct. 25 to Tuesday, Oct. 26.

HAMERA SHABBIR
Hamera Shabbir covers golf and fencing for the Sports desk and the School of the Environment for the Science and Technology desk. Originally from California's Central Valley, she is a sophomore in Branford College majoring in Environmental Studies.