Four straight titles, and six-time champs.
The Cortland Women’s Golf team took home their sixth conference championship trophy, and their fourth straight title this past weekend, April 23. The team competed in the National Women’s Golf Conference at the Wintonbury Hills Golf Course in Bloomfield Connecticut
Forty-two golfers competed from eight different schools, Cortland claiming first, second, and third place individual scores. Saturday the Red Dragons scored a 309, and a 317 on Sunday. Sunday was a tougher day for golfing given the rainy conditions on the course. Cortland had a sure win, finishing 87 strokes ahead of the second-place school, St. John Fisher.
Despite rainy conditions, the Red Dragons didn’t allow it to affect their game. Sophomore Sophie Oristian tied for third place with a 158. Oristian performed better on Sunday with a 78, she didn’t let the weather affect her play.
“The rainy conditions definitely made it more difficult however it was an opportunity to bear down and get the work done when other teams were struggling,” said Oristian.
Amanda Gaffney, graduate student from Williamsville, New York, was the star golfer for the Red Dragons on the weekend. Gaffney finished in first place overall with a weekend score of 153 and she was named the NWGC Player of the Year.
“It is really special to be able to represent our school getting to play with the best teams in the country at our level,” said Gaffney. “We have worked really hard this year, so it was amazing to see all the practice and hard work pay off!”
The team is headed to Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida for the NCAA championship May 9-12 at the Mission Inn Resort and Club. The team has been working hard in practice to be able to compete with the best of the best.
“We’re just going to focus on doing our best and focusing on swing thoughts and things we’ve been working on,” said Gaffney. “I can’t speak for everyone, but I really think our most important things are just having fun and just enjoying the opportunity while trying to play the best we can.”
The NCAA championship is nothing new for the Red Dragons. The team headed down to the tournament last year, but didn’t perform as they hoped they would, finishing 24th out of 29 teams. This year they plan to go into the weekend loose, with clear heads.
“Our team mindset was basically just to play golf the way we know how,” said Oristian. “We’re all very skilled players and we love what we do so we went into the weekend trying to take a lot of pressure off ourselves and just play because we love it.”
Despite the tournament being during a time of high stress for students, the team has had help balancing both school and golf.
“We have a bit of experience now being there, so I think the mindset this time around is to just do what we know works and let the rest happen around us,” said Oristian. “We focus a lot on school since the tournament is during finals week, but coach is good at helping us find that separation and balance between school and being on the golf course.”
The event will be broadcasted at NCAA.com at no charge.