The Tigers’ men's and women’s golf teams kicked off their seasons this past weekend in the Katman Classic at Twin Bridges Golf Club.
Coming into their round on Saturday, the ladies were confident that they were ready for what the course had in store for them.
Prior to the opening round, junior Sheinnera Gerongay boasted, “We’ve been playing out at Twin Bridges for the past two weekends, so I think we were all very familiar with the course.”
And familiar they were. The ladies finished in first place with an overall team score of 312, which was whopping twenty stroke advantage over their next closest competitor, Franklin College.
Although they had an impressive margin of victory, the ladies struggled with course conditions on Saturday.
“The course was very wet, so balls would plug in the ground and wouldn't roll out,” Gerongay said.
Despite the difficult conditions, the players were able to come together as a team and put together an impressive showing.
The Tigers had five ladies in the top 10. Gerongay and first-year Larisa Luloff tied for first with 76, first-year Rachele Miller placed third with a 78, and junior Kenzlie Westerfield and sophomore Kharissa Carras finished in fifth and seventh with scores of 81 and 82, respectively.
The gentlemen played their round of the tournament on Sunday. Similar to the way the ladies dominated their field, the gentlemen did the same, posting a collective team score of 296, which was 6 strokes lower than the closest runner-up, Millikin University.
The Tigers saw an outstanding individual effort from first-year Josh Krutchik as he singlehandedly took down the course with an even par 72. Krutchik’s efforts were enough to win him the individual medal.
Reflecting on his exceptional round, Krutchik expressed that it was a great milestone in his young career.
“It was the best round of my DePauw career so far, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the spring season,” he said.
In addition to his great performance, his teammates junior Quinn Smith and sophomore Jackson Mihevc finished in second and eighth place with scores of 73 and 75, respectively.
There isn’t much more of a promising way to begin the season than both Tiger teams did this weekend.
Putting it very lightly, Luloff said, “We definitely have put ourselves in a good place to start.”
Both teams will look to further carry this momentum into their next match on Thursday, Mar. 24, at Arizona Christian.