Spring Break
GOLF: Bloom earns honors, but team finishes last at UAAs
by Ian Cutler and Andrew Ng
Sports | 4/28/09
Posted online at 3:19 AM EST on 4/28/09
Despite playing at what captain Aaron Hattenbach '09 deemed one of the most difficult courses the golf team had encountered this season, the team had eight birdies in the first round of the University Athletic Association Championships at the Royal Lakes Golf Course in Flowery Branch, Ga. last Sunday, finishing the first day with a team score of 45-over-par 329, putting them in last place out of five teams but only 15 strokes behind the leading team, the University of Rochester.
Unfortunately, the team could not build on its first-day performance, dropping eight strokes while only recording two birdies yesterday in the final round. The squad finished the second day with a 53-over-par 337 and concluded the tournament with a 98-over-par 666.
Carnegie Mellon University won the tournament with a 13-over-par 626.
"It's a very difficult, narrow golf course, so you're bound to have a few high scores in there," said Hattenbach, who shot a 30-over-par 172. "The golf course is set up so that if you miss a shot, it's very hard to get a follow-up shot off because there is very little rough. Every hole has out-of-bounds left and right."
Coach Bill Shipman did not anticipate such a drop-off going into the second day.
"Our score was not bad considering that Emory University, the defending UAA champions, typically averages around 300 and shot 326 [on the first day]," he said after the first round. "Last week, we played [New York University], who shot 305 and 297, and [on the first day] they only shot 317."
Despite the last-place finish, the Judges had two golfers score in the top 15: Lee Bloom '10 and Charles Sacks '10. Bloom earned second-team all-UAA honors with an 17-over-par-159 and tied for eighth place with Emory senior Patrick Cohn and New York University senior captain Alex Hopson, while Sacks tied for 15th place with Emory junior John Ross, shooting a 21-over-par 163.
"That's nice," Shipman said of Bloom's accomplishment. "It shows the level of play that he's reached. I think he was even better in the fall, so this wasn't even his best, and he could've done better. It shows some improvement on the team, and [Bloom's] level is competitive with some solid players in Division III."
Unfortunately, the team could not build on its first-day performance, dropping eight strokes while only recording two birdies yesterday in the final round. The squad finished the second day with a 53-over-par 337 and concluded the tournament with a 98-over-par 666.
Carnegie Mellon University won the tournament with a 13-over-par 626.
"It's a very difficult, narrow golf course, so you're bound to have a few high scores in there," said Hattenbach, who shot a 30-over-par 172. "The golf course is set up so that if you miss a shot, it's very hard to get a follow-up shot off because there is very little rough. Every hole has out-of-bounds left and right."
Coach Bill Shipman did not anticipate such a drop-off going into the second day.
"Our score was not bad considering that Emory University, the defending UAA champions, typically averages around 300 and shot 326 [on the first day]," he said after the first round. "Last week, we played [New York University], who shot 305 and 297, and [on the first day] they only shot 317."
Despite the last-place finish, the Judges had two golfers score in the top 15: Lee Bloom '10 and Charles Sacks '10. Bloom earned second-team all-UAA honors with an 17-over-par-159 and tied for eighth place with Emory senior Patrick Cohn and New York University senior captain Alex Hopson, while Sacks tied for 15th place with Emory junior John Ross, shooting a 21-over-par 163.
"That's nice," Shipman said of Bloom's accomplishment. "It shows the level of play that he's reached. I think he was even better in the fall, so this wasn't even his best, and he could've done better. It shows some improvement on the team, and [Bloom's] level is competitive with some solid players in Division III."
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