The Hamilton men’s and women’s golf teams have completed their spring seasons, having competed in two and three tournaments, respectively, along with one each in Florida over spring break.

The men’s team had a successful season, narrowly missing a bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. They came in 8th place out of 15 teams at the Tim Brown Invitational at Skidmore College earlier in April. The following weekend, they came in fourth place out of nine teams at the NESCAC Spring Opener at Williams College on Saturday, Apr. 20 and Sunday, Apr. 21. Milan Matneja ’22 tied for seventh place out of the 52 golfers, earning a total score of 146. He completed Hamilton’s best round of the weekend on Sunday with a 72 (1-over par). Sam Vogel ’22 was not far behind with a score of 74 in the same round. Jeremy Benjamin ’19, Jack Habeeb ’22, and Bobby Osborn ’20 finished with total scores of 151, 153 and 154, respectively.

On Saturday, Apr. 27 and Sunday, Apr. 28, the men’s team competed in the NESCAC Championship tournament. They finished in second place out of the four teams, ending just four shots behind Trinity College, who earned a bid to the national men’s golf tournament. Vogel finished in second place overall out of 24 golfers after a team-best round of 70 (1-under par) on Sunday, and Matneja tied for third with a total score of 107. In the second round, Osborn tied his best score of the season (76) on Sunday and Habeeb and Benjamin both scored a 74.

“In the fall of 2016, we missed qualifying for the NESCAC Championship by multiple shots,” Osborn said. “To be in contention to win the tournament and earn a spot at nationals during the closing stretch of holes this spring was very exciting for the entire team. We have come a long way, and the future is bright for Hamilton golf.”

On Wednesday, May 8, three men’s golfers were named to the All-NESCAC Team for outstanding play. Matneja was named Rookie of the Year and a golfer in the All-NESCAC First Team. In the past 15 years, he is the fourth Continental to be named the Rookie of the Year in the NESCAC, following golfers in 2007, 2011, and 2016.

Benjamin and Habeeb were both named to the All-NESCAC Second Team, the first time achieving this honor for both golfers. Matneja and Habeeb were the only two first-years on either All-NESCAC team among all schools, showing the bright future for the Continentals’ men’s golf team.

The women’s team competed in the NESCAC Championship tournament during their fall season; they came in fourth out of seven teams. Their first of two tournaments for the spring season was the Ithaca Invitational in Ithaca, N.Y. on Saturday, Apr. 13 and Sunday, Apr. 14. They came in first place out of seven teams, marking the first time Hamilton has won the Ithaca Invitational.

The Continentals were tied with Ithaca College after finishing the day on Saturday but were able to pull away and win by an impressive margin of 25 strokes the following day. All five Hamilton golfers finished in the top 11 (out of 39). Sophia Archos ’21 came in fifth place, Libbie Warner ’19 finished in sixth, Celia Lau ’21 tied for ninth and Chiara Bondi ’22 tied for eleventh. Emily Moy ’22 tied for the best round of the tournament on Sunday with a score of 76 (4-over par) and finished the tournament in second place overall.

“In the spring, we only have two tournaments, so we don’t have as much time to go out and make adjustments [as we do during the fall season],” said Moy. “So for us to win at Ithaca coming off of a good spring break trip was really awesome for the team.”

The final women’s tournament of the season was the Jack Leaman Tournament at Amherst College on Saturday, Apr. 27 and Sunday, Apr. 28. The team came in seventh place out of ten but completed multiple impressive rounds. Moy led the Continentals with a score of 84 on Saturday, while Warner had the best round of the weekend for the team on Sunday with a 78. Moy tied for 27th place out of 55 golfers overall, while Warner finished in 22nd. Molly Healey ’22 scored a career-best 83 on Sunday.

On the team’s performance at Amherst, Moy said: “The conditions were super tough so a lot of us didn’t score well. There are definitely a lot of positives to take away from it and places of improvement that we can always learn from after competing.”

The future looks bright for the women’s team as well. Moy added, “We had a pretty young team with only one senior so I think we have the potential for a really great upcoming season with our returning players. We have six incoming freshmen who will be great additions. I am really excited for next fall.”