UTICA, NY - Utica University's men's and women's golf teams headed over to Lakeside Country Club in Penn Yan, NY, to compete in Keuka College's Spring Invitational. The women, opening their spring season, placed third out of five teams, while the men placed fourth out of six. Utica women's golf will take on a two-day tournament in Cortland this coming weekend before both squads compete in their respective conference championship events on April 19th and 20th.
Of all 10 athletes representing Utica golf, freshman
Claire Draper (Watertown, NY/Watertown) finished highest, earning a bronze medal placement with a +22 score in the women's competition. To achieve the finish, she turned in five holes of par or better play, including back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. No other Pioneer placed inside the top 10 on either the men's or women's side. Rounding out the team scoring for the women,
Paige Graves (Syracuse, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) placed 12th after shooting +33, followed by
Jordan Dorrity (Constableville, NY/South Lewis Central) (+37) in 14th, and a 19th-place finish by
Emily Elwood (DeRuyter, NY/DeRuyter Central) (+40). In her debut event with the program, Sianna Kenyon turned in a +42 scorecard.
In the men's event,
Phoenix Weydig (Kenwood, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) paced the Pioneers with an 11th-best finish of +14. Eight rankings back,
Drake Morse (Grand Rapids, MI) shot +17.
Daniel Maloney (Syracuse, NY/Living Word Academy) was the final Utica golfer to shoot below +20 (+19), placing 22nd.
Carter Lathrop (Walworth, NY/Gananda) and
Aiden Dibble (Richfield Springs, NY/Richfield Springs Central) closed out the orange and blue's participation, shooting +23 and +25 for placements of 26th and 27th, respectively.
Nazareth won the team scoring of both events, shooting +29 with their men, and +113 with their women. The Pioneer men combined for a +73 score, ahead of Keuka's A and B teams. The women shot +132 with a two-shot edge over William Smith, before a sizable lead ahead of Keuka in fifth.
Utica women's golf will return to action in just a few days, taking on the Cortland Martin/Wallace Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, April 11th and 12th. The competition is set to take place at the Cortland Country Club. Beyond that event, both the men's and women's teams will return to action the following weekend, April 19th and 20th, when both squads take on their conference championship events.
