This year, the women’s golf team came out with a bang, winning their first invitational in the program’s history and recording numerous new records. At the end of September, the team won the William and Smith Invitational. This accomplishment was a first for the women’s team, setting the stage for an exciting and thrilling fall season.

The team’s emotions were heightened after this win.

“It was really exciting when I found out we were in first. I was the first one on the course so waiting for all of our teammates to come off the course was really a nail-biter,” said freshman Emily Stickel. “After Emily Oakes came in with an 83, I knew we were in pretty good shape. It shows we have a strong team when there are players like her who can pull through with an amazing score like that when we need it most.”

Junior Emma Plucinik also shared in the excitement of the first invitational win, stating, “This was the first win for the golf team… ever. Approaching this tournament we knew the possibilities because we had played these schools before, as well as this course for the upperclassmen on the team. So it felt great seeing all of our hard work pay off!”

The team continued to succeed in their next few invitationals of the fall season, coming in fifth place at Cortland’s Martin and Wallace Invitational and sixth place at the Kutztown Invitational. At their final invitational of the fall season, the women recorded a team score of 753 – the second best score in the team’s history.

As a whole, the team has been working together to get stronger, focusing on different aspects of the game at a time.

Discussing the team’s focus, Stickel explained, “As a team, one of the biggest things we are focusing on or at least what our coach has been working with us a lot on is our short game. Considering a lot of us have pretty strong golf swings, short game becomes the most challenging part. Golf, being a mental game, deals a lot with confidence so by practicing putting and chipping for hours we tend to build up confidence so when we have that shot in a match we are able to feel confident and nail it!”

Stickel and fellow freshman Emily Oakes have been strong additions to the team this year, serving as the leading scorers at each invitational. Over the course of the fall season, Stickel has set two program records, having the highest overall score of 170 and scoring a record-breaking 80 to begin the Martin and Wallace Invitational.

In the final tournament of the season, Oakes broke the record again, registering a career best of 178. Each of these new players have improved each week, breaking numerous records at every invitational.

“I am thrilled with the results of the season; they went in the direction of our goals,” said the team’s head coach, Steve Serling. “We increased our scoring and the change in new players, Emily Oakes and Emily Stickel, helped to make the biggest difference. Everyone else has done really well.  I am continuing to recruit new players for next year and beyond to get a better group of skilled golfers each year.”

The Dolphins have had a successful fall season, and will look to build off this success in the spring.