Yale Athletics

Both the Yale women’s and men’s golf teams had stellar weekends, finishing first in the Princeton Invitational and third in the Macdonald Cup, respectively. 

At the Princeton Invitational, which took place at the Springdale Golf Club in Princeton, New Jersey, the Bulldogs picked up three individual top-10 finishes en route to a first place victory. Yale shot 2-over-par to finish with a score of 854 in the tournament, which edged out second place Harvard’s 14-over-par finish by a 12-stroke margin. 

“Winning the event as a team was an awesome experience and truly reflected how we played all weekend,” women’s captain Ami Gianchandani ’23 wrote to the News. “The goal for Sunday was to do everything I could individually to help myself move up the leaderboard and to help the team win. Shooting 67 was a great accomplishment for me, though I wish I could have done more in the first two rounds.” 

For the women’s side, Gianchandani, Mia Sessa ’26 and Alexis Kim ’25 led the way by finishing third, fourth and ninth respectively. Gianchandani, last year’s Ivy League Player of the Year, shot her way to an impressive score of 211, or 2-under-par, which included a phenomenal performance of 4-under 67 in the final round on Sunday. The 4-under was a personal best for Gianchandani. 

Sessa, a standout first year, scored 212, or 1-under-par, to tie for fourth place, while Kim finished ninth at 4-over-par.

This performance comes on the heels of a fifth place finish at the Yale Invitational on September 11, which also included three top-10 finishes. 

Last year, the Elis finished fourth at the Princeton Invitational, shooting a three-round total of 885, or 21-over-par.

In the 46th annual Macdonald Cup, a two-day tournament hosted by the Bulldogs at the Yale Golf Course in New Haven, the men’s team finished third with three top-10 finishes. In the tournament, the Blue-and-White finished 10-over with a score of 1060, behind Minnesota, who finished 2-over-par, and Harvard, who finished second at 4-over-par. 

Will Lodge ’26 was the Bulldog’s best showing and hit 69-66-70 over the weekend. The second-round 66 effort helped push Lodge into second place overall in the tournament.

“​​The 66 was fantastic and my best round on the Yale Course. Overall it was just a very solid ball striking day as most of my birdies were either tap-ins or short putts. The main thing was bogey avoidance, which going bogey-free at Yale is something I’m very proud of, “ Lodge told the News. 

Gabriel Ruiz ’23, and Ben Carpenter ’24 tied for eighth place with each finishing 1-under for a score of 209. 

Ruiz’s performance included a 3-under, or a score of 67, on Sunday, which helped catapult the Elis into third place and leapfrog over Richmond, who finished fourth. C

“We had a solid showing this weekend. The course played tough and conditions were challenging all three rounds. We had some good scores as a team, but we all feel like we left some strokes out there,” Ruiz said. 

Both Ruiz and Lodge expressed their disappointment at not being able to follow up last year’s performance in which they won the Yale Invitational. 

“Our third place finish is a solid result, but definitely disappointing as we tried to defend the title from last year. Some great play today, however, leaves us on a positive note going into next week,” Lodge said. 

However, the Bulldogs led the field in terms of pars by earning 221, the most of any team present.

Next week, the men’s team will travel to East Hampton, New York, where they will look to take home first at the Hampton’s Intercollegiate. Meanwhile, the women’s team’s next competition will come at the Ivy Intercollegiate on Oct. 10 in Springfield, New Jersey.

Ben Raab | ben.raab@yale.edu | @BenHRaab on Twitter