By Emily Fox · Editor-in-Chief
Grove City’s men’s and women’s golf teams are ready to hit the course for the fall season. Last weekend, the women played their first invitational at Youngstown State and the men’s team played a 36-hole tryout to determine its roster and prepare for the upcoming season.
The men’s team hopes to build on its success this past spring after taking second at the McBride-Behringer-Allen Invitational, where sophomore Luke Gronbeck medaled by shooting 73. Three of the team’s players also placed in the top 10 at the Thiel Invitational. Junior Nathan Young finished best among returning players, tying for ninth with a 78.
“We lost a significant amount of experience with our seniors who graduated in May,” Golf Coach Brad Isles said. “That said, we have had some promising underclassmen step up and we are excited to see how they perform this fall.”
Gronbeck is expected to be a key player after consistently placing in the top five throughout his freshman season. Young will also lead the team at the front end of the lineup. Other experienced players include junior Tyler Derstein and seniors Jonah Kozora, Cayden Testa, Michael Astrab and Brian McDonnell.
“I’m excited for the upcoming season. We lost some seniors that played a big role on the team, but we have guys that can step up, and I think we can compete for a PAC championship,” McDonnell said.
The men’s team plays at the Malone Invitational today at 10:30 a.m.
“My hopes for the season are to win a PAC championship. We have a solid squad of guys, and we are ready to make a run. I am excited to see how we compete this season and hopefully it is the result we are looking for,” Astrab said.
The women’s team kicked off their season this past Monday, taking third place at Youngstown State. Junior Lauren Kardos finished in 13th place with a round of 89. Kardos earned a Second Team All-Conference distinction at the PAC tournament last spring, and the team finished fifth overall.
“I feel we made great strides as a program last season, and we expect to see that growth continue this year. Coach Amy Smith has been instrumental in building the team up, working on our culture and pushing for positive results through practices and in tournaments,” Isles said.
“We are making big investments in player development for both the women’s and men’s programs and, while the results may not necessarily be immediate, we are putting pieces in place to position our golfers to be their best on the course. From a team perspective this year, we have a legitimate chance to be in the top four in the conference. We lost no seniors and most of our returning players have significant tournament experience,” he said.
Isles has hopes for Kardos to make top 10 in the conference and for Hailey Muñoz to be an All-PAC performer. Other experienced players on the women’s team include sophomores Sydney Goettel and Gabrielle Kinneer, junior Madylin Galbreath and seniors Rebekah Gaehring and Julianna Jacobs.
The team will compete at the Thiel Invitational at 1 p.m. on Sept. 6.
“I’m hoping to grow both in our individual games skill-wise and collectively as a team. We’ve been putting work into build(ing) team culture, and I think that will pay off in our performance as well. Our coaches are also putting a lot of time and effort into helping us perform to our potential, so I hope that will show throughout this season,” Jacobs said.
