As the Grand Valley State University men’s and women’s golf teams approach their most important parts of the schedule, their goal is to be playing their best.

They continued to work toward that after successful outings for both golf programs this past Monday.

The men’s golf team finished in the top five at the Midwest Regional tournament, while the women went on to win the Triton invitational, led by sophomore Kelly Haritgan.

Hartigan continued her dominance by winning the tournament by six strokes when she recorded a 147 (7), which ultimately led GVSU to win the overall tournament by carding a team total of 630 – 13 strokes better than second place Northeastern State University.

“I thought we all played pretty solid both days,” Hartigan said. “It was important for us to play well with conference and regionals just around the corner.”

Junior Veronica Ryan finished fourth overall for the tournament with a final score of 157 (17). Freshman Gabrielle Shipley joined Hartigan and Ryan in the individual top ten with a final score of 161 (21).

“It’s key for us to continue to play with confidence, especially at this time of the year,” Hartigan said. “If we stay consistent at practice and stay focused, then we should be in good shape.”

The GVSU men’s golf team also faired well, as they added another top five finish to their resume by finishing with a team score of 591, just 12 strokes behind tournament champion Missouri- St. Louis (579).

“It was a tougher course for us, but I think we adjusted well,” said sophomore Jack Rider. “The first day of play was more weather permitting than the second, but you couldn’t really tell by our scores.”

Despite a rough first round of play, Rider was able to pull things together and shoot a second round score of 69 (-3) – an eight-stroke improvement from his first round.

“The second day we were out there was definitely a positive feeling for us,” Rider said. “We were able to get a better feel for the course and focus in more.”

The overall leader for the Lakers was junior Chris Cunningham, who finished eighth in the overall individual standings with a total score of 144 (E).

“You know, despite a couple of small things here and there I think we all played well,” Cunningham said. “We definitely have some things to work on, but a fifth-place finish out of 25 plus teams is something we can be proud of.”

Junior Joel Seigel had an impressive second round as well with a score of 75 to finish out at 152 (8).

“I don’t think we have played to our expectations yet, but we are on our way,” Seigel said. “We have two weekends to get things rolling, so we will see what happens.”

The Lakers hope freshman Nick Williams can be a consistent fourth guy in the rotation. Williams finished at 158 (14) for the tournament.

“We are still looking for that consistent fourth and fifth guy, and we have a couple of guys who have the potential to step up and do that,” Rider said.

The Laker men will next travel to New Albany, Ohio for the GLIAC Spring Invite this upcoming weekend. The GVSU women will have the week off until they travel to Midland, Mich. for the Northwood Invitational on April 20.
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