Spring Break
GOLF: Judges slip from fifth to sixth at JWU Invitational
by Andrew Ng
Staff writer
Sports | 4/21/09
Posted online at 1:08 AM EST on 4/21/09
After tumultuous 13th and 14th holes, golf team captain Aaron Hattenbach '09 was simply happy to make it through the first day of the Johnson & Wales Invitational last weekend.
With a par 5 dogleg left on the 13th hole, meaning a hole that bends to the left, Hattenbach's first two strokes resulted in him driving the ball onto a small island 20 yards away from the grass. Although the ball was playable, Hattenbach could only reach the ball by putting on a pair of rain pants and crossing onto the island. However, the stream was not the only obstacle he had to confront, as a goose that hissed and flapped its wings, threatening Hattenbach as he prepared to chip the ball.
"I went up there and toughed it up, thinking that if this bird makes a run at me, I'll just take my club and whack it," Hattenbach said.
On the next hole, an opposing golfer in the woods hit a line drive towards Hattenbach's head as he prepared to tee off on the 14th hole, forcing him to fall on his back to dodge the golf ball.
"At that point I just took off my drenched shoes and played the hole in my wet socks. It was almost comical after a bird almost attacks and you almost get killed with a golf ball," Hattenbach said.
Hattenbach may have escaped the tournament in one piece, but the Judges once again struggled in the competition. The Judges finished with a team score of 335 on the first day last Saturday, putting them in fifth place at 51 strokes over par. On the second day, they failed to gain any ground on the competition, slipping to sixth place out of 13 teams despite scoring a 327 on the final day of the tournament, totaling at 662, 94 strokes over par. New York University won the event with a score of 606 at 38 strokes over par.
"This team isn't playing terribly; it just hasn't performed to the level we showed during the fall season," coach Bill Shipman said. "They're a little rusty, and they haven't gotten it together. Sometimes you have to score even when you're not hitting the ball well, and they have not been doing that."
With a par 5 dogleg left on the 13th hole, meaning a hole that bends to the left, Hattenbach's first two strokes resulted in him driving the ball onto a small island 20 yards away from the grass. Although the ball was playable, Hattenbach could only reach the ball by putting on a pair of rain pants and crossing onto the island. However, the stream was not the only obstacle he had to confront, as a goose that hissed and flapped its wings, threatening Hattenbach as he prepared to chip the ball.
"I went up there and toughed it up, thinking that if this bird makes a run at me, I'll just take my club and whack it," Hattenbach said.
On the next hole, an opposing golfer in the woods hit a line drive towards Hattenbach's head as he prepared to tee off on the 14th hole, forcing him to fall on his back to dodge the golf ball.
"At that point I just took off my drenched shoes and played the hole in my wet socks. It was almost comical after a bird almost attacks and you almost get killed with a golf ball," Hattenbach said.
Hattenbach may have escaped the tournament in one piece, but the Judges once again struggled in the competition. The Judges finished with a team score of 335 on the first day last Saturday, putting them in fifth place at 51 strokes over par. On the second day, they failed to gain any ground on the competition, slipping to sixth place out of 13 teams despite scoring a 327 on the final day of the tournament, totaling at 662, 94 strokes over par. New York University won the event with a score of 606 at 38 strokes over par.
"This team isn't playing terribly; it just hasn't performed to the level we showed during the fall season," coach Bill Shipman said. "They're a little rusty, and they haven't gotten it together. Sometimes you have to score even when you're not hitting the ball well, and they have not been doing that."
Be the first to comment on this story