The golf team traveled to Old Brookville, New York, to compete in the Shark Invitational this past Monday and Tuesday. The Leopards placed fifth out of 12 teams on the par-70 course, including a top-five finish from junior Harry Dessel.
Following up a slow start, carding a 297 in the first round of the three-round tournament, the Maroon and White surged up the leaderboards with a 288 round-two finish and a 280 score on the lone day-two round. Only two teams, Boston College and Holy Cross, scored better than the Leopards on day two.
“This tournament, none of us have played it before,” senior Sean Saw said. “Some of the juniors and seniors have played a lot of the tournaments we usually play, but this was a new event and we played pretty well.”
Pacing the Leopards, Dessel finished tied for third individually, carding 71, 72 and 67.
“I was just hitting the ball well, and on the greens, I was a lot more comfortable on putts inside of 10 feet, which is huge for scoring,” Dessel said. “To be able to not lose shots putting was really important for me.”
Dessel’s round-three performance was one of only nine under-par performances on day two among the 70 participants.
“I just played overall better on the final day,” Dessel said. “I made less silly mistakes out there, avoidable mistakes, and it was overall just better the last day.”
Alongside Dessel, freshman Reed Theiss also put together an under-par performance on day two, carding 75, 71 and 68 between the three rounds to finish tied for 16th.
“I think it’s really good seeing how well the freshmen are playing this year,” Dessel said. “They’ve really stepped up, especially in the spring season, which is good to see the improvement.”
Saw, alongside sophomore Hudson Pace, who competed as an individual, each tied for 40th, carding 223 overall, with senior Quint Dingledine right behind them with a 224, tying for 46th place.
“Being able to play well on those long 36-hole days and hold it together when other people on the team are struggling, it shows a testament to our mentality,” Saw said. “We’ve grown as a team to be able to have some guys struggle on days and still be able to move up the leaderboard and still be able to put up respectable scores.”
Sophomore Winston Kelenc-Blank and freshman Michael DiNapoli, who competed as an individual, rounded out the scoring for the Maroon and White, both carding a 226 to tie for 55th.
The Leopards return to action with a pair of tournaments this week, taking on the Roar-EE Invitational hosted by Columbia University this Saturday and the Presidents Cup against Lehigh at Hamilton Farm.
“With Presidents Cup coming up against Lehigh, that’s definitely something as a senior, that rivalry means a lot to us,” Saw said. “I think we’ve got the team this year to win and really make a statement in terms of both tournaments, as well as our head-to-head match with Lehigh.”
Disclaimer: Sports Editor Grace Sanborn ’25 is a member of the golf team. She did not contribute writing or reporting.
