Kristina Shalhoup is a sophomore on the NYU women's golf team. She will share her thoughts in this space throughout the season.
Written September 26
I'm back! Back on the blog and back from another tournament. We spent the weekend back in my home state (MA) at one of my favorite courses: The Orchards.
This weekend was a "ladies only" weekend. As seems to be an Orchards trend, coach January Romero was our team mom this weekend. A HUGE thanks to her for all of her help and for just putting up with us (smelly golf shoes and all).
We started the trip with a pit stop at the driving range to keep our swings nice and loose, followed up by another pit stop at Panera (because who can't resist a yummy sandwich on a long van ride?). We arrived in MA with full stomachs, and, unfortunately, a need for umbrellas. We went to walk the course facing a downpour. On that note…yay for rain gear! After our traditional Orchards dinner at Chili's (endless chips and lava cake....
YUM), we headed to bed, excited for the next morning.
Luckily, when we woke up bright and early to play the next morning, no rain gear was necessary. It was muggy, and we experienced a slight mist, but the weatherman was proven wrong again. However, all the water that was supposed to be pouring from the sky must have been transported onto the course because, oh man, was it swampy! We came in that day with some not-bad-but-could-be-better scores. But hey, room for improvement right? After round one, we were in ninth place. After some shopping (we found a much needed strip mall behind our hotel), a team pep talk, and of course, more food, we prepared ourselves for the final round.
The final day started off even better (and even earlier) than the first day did. The sun was out, the air was warm and the greens weren't as saturated with water. Well rested and determined, we set out to improve upon Saturday's round. And improve we did. We dropped a fabulous total of nine strokes, allowing us to finish in a tie for eighth place with Merrimack College. A big shout out to captain Meaghan Kenny (aka Captain Jack Sparrow) for dropping five shots, giving us a much needed boost!
So, we returned home with good attitudes, and smelly, wet grass covered shoes. Here, I give a shout out to Haley for buying Febreze!
I'll be back with more updates soon!
Your favorite sophomore,
Kristina
PS. Meaghan and I are having a blog-off. BRING IT ON!
Meaghan Kenny is a senior on the women's goilf team. She will be sharing her thoughts in this space throughout the season.
Written September 19
This past weekend was a very special weekend for me. It was not only our first solid NYU Invitational (we had 11 teams instead of two or three), but it was family and alumnae weekend which not only meant my parents making an appearance on the course, but also former team captain Theresa Apoznanski, who has been my example as I lead the team this season. After a long day and finishing in almost darkness, I was so proud of my assistant captain Kristina Shalhoup, who was sitting in first place individually by one stroke after a stellar first round!
After the round, we held a banquet for all of the teams. We were able to enjoy a nice meal and chat with the girls we had played with during the day. I was then presented with a lovely senior plaque, which was accompanied by a touching speech from both Coach Todd and Coach Huck. I was close to tears as they shared stories of my previous three years on the team. I can’t believe I’m in my last season.
Sunday got off to a bit of a later and rougher start. Both Kristina and I had a rough first hole (to say the least) and were working to recover for the remainder of our round. I’m not sure what (if anything) was going through my head, but something clicked and I went into hyper drive, birdying three out of four holes at one point on the front nine. I knew where I stood and what I had to do on the back in order to finally break 80, so I kept my focus and carried on.
As we approached the last few holes, the sun had already set and it was getting darker by the second. By the time we reached the 18
th hole, it was almost completely dark. Kristina’s group and my group had to combine in order to have a chance of finishing. I had no idea where my ball went after each shot. It was a guessing game.
At this point, I would like to give a shout out to our fabulous men’s golf team for assisting us in finding our golf balls and helping out this weekend. You were a great help!!
When I walked up to the 18th green, I found my ball four feet from the cup. If I was to sink this put, I would finally break 80 and be the happiest person alive. In the complete darkness I am sad to say I missed the putt, but 80 is in fact a new collegiate low for me and I couldn’t be happier! I can now check off “playing golf in the dark” on my bucket list.
We finished this weekend tied for sixth with Vassar College. I have to say I could not be more proud of my freshmen. They came into this program, whether they realized it or not, with expectations looming over their heads after the performance that the team put on last year. They know that we want to do well and they play their little hearts out each round. I am especially proud of freshman Shannon Leonard, who has played a solid number three for us the past two weeks. I am really starting to love this team more and more as the season goes forth, and I really hope that we can continue to improve in the coming weeks.
Next weekend we’re off to the Mt. Holyoke Invitational at my favorite golf course, The Orchards. I really think we have a chance of showcasing some great scores. Our best golf is yet to come. You can quote me on that!!
