The Lehigh women’s golf team finished eighth, with a score of 654, in a two-day, 18-hole event at the Sacred Heart Fall Classic in Milford, Connecticut, this past weekend.
Lehigh competed against schools including Boston University, Hartford, Fairfield and Sacred Heart.
Senior captain Marina Mendez said the tournament allowed each player to get more experience and learn more about themselves.
“I think it was a good tournament just to get some experience for younger players and also just for the rest of us since we haven’t really played in tournaments lately,” Mendez said. “We’re just really focusing on getting ready for the Lehigh Invitational.”
Mendez, who placed 65th, said the team used this tournament as a way to see what they need to improve on for their next tournament.
Junior Meghna Grover said the conditions were not ideal but it was exciting playing in a new environment.
“It wasn’t our strongest performance,” Grover said. “The weather was a bit rough on Monday. It was raining the majority of the round which made it a bit hard, especially since a lot of us aren’t used to playing in that type of weather, but we all pushed through.”
Grover tied for 30th and said that the whole team had strengths during each of the rounds that may not have shown in the score as a few of them birdied difficult holes.
In mentally preparing for competition, Grover said meditation and visualizing the course beforehand help her. Also, having practice rounds helps her strategize her game plan.
“I also try to practice not putting too much emphasis on having a bad shot and just focus on the next one,” Grover said.
Freshman Yuki Zhu, who tied for 39th place, said the Sacred Heart course was different from what they are used to at Lehigh and that they are expecting to make a comeback during the Lehigh Invitational because it is on their course.
“We were disappointed, but we didn’t lose confidence in ourselves,” Zhu said.
As a captain of the team, Mendez said her role is to make sure her teammates feel welcomed, included and confident on the course.
“We have a strong team this year,” Mendez said.”We have the full support from our coaching staff, which is really good and I feel like they have been putting a lot of effort into making sure we feel our best and giving us everything we should need when we need it.”
The team will look to rebound and close out its fall season at the Lehigh Invitational on Oct. 24 and Oct. 25 on the Grace Course at the Saucon Valley Country Club.
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