by Harry McArthur
To top off a very successful summer, retaining the European University Golf Championship, both the men’s and women’s golf teams took a trip to the USA. The teams were invited over by the University of Yale to compete against some of the best amateur golfers in the world, and were the only non American team to be invited.
The men’s team travelled over to Connecticut to compete in the prestigious MacDonald Cup. The team consisted of Chris Maclean, Andrew Davidson, James Wilson, Jordan Sundborg, Laird Shepherd and Alasdair McDougall; all of whom are scholarship athletes at the university.
They put in a tremendous performance and managed to finish second place, despite the world class competition. They only finished two strokes off the pace, behind reigning champions Harvard University, and ended five strokes ahead of the hosts.
The men also impressed on the individual player leader board, with Laird Shepherd taking fifth place and Chris MacLean following closely behind in sixth.
The women’s team that flew over also put in a fine performance. They were invited to participate in the Yale Women’s Intercollegiate Event, a first for the University of Stirling.
The women took six scholarship athletes to compete; Chloe Goadby, Tara Mactaggart, Gemma Batty, Penny Brown, Jen Saxton and Sinead Sexton.
They were one of 19 universities competing and finished in a respectable twelfth position, finishing above well-known sporting universities, including Boston and Brown. This position did not reflect how well they performed throughout the contest, as they recorded a terrific 12 birdies as a team. Also, Chloe Goadby made a name for herself as she was one of only two players to record an eagle during the competition.
The teams played on ‘The Course at Yale’, which is regarded as the number one college golf course in America. It is steeped in history and is known for its complexities around the sporting world. Simply playing on such a course would have been an honour for our golf teams, but performing as admirably as they did is truly astonishing.
Dean Robertson, University of Stirling high performance golf coach, said: “Both teams have done the University proud over the past couple of weeks, proving they can mix it with some of the world’s leading universities.
“Gaining second place was a tremendous result for the men’s team and the women’s team produced some excellent golf during their first appearance in what is normally an all-American event.
“As a group we will reflect and build for 2017 from all we have learned. Our golfers now turn their attention to the BUCS student tour event this weekend at St Andrews.”
This was a truly fantastic way to finish off yet another impressive summer for University of Stirling’s elite level golfers, as they graced one of the greatest golf courses in the world and flew home with their heads held high.
[…] their feats have even been noticed across the Atlantic, with the men’s team finishing second at the prestigious MacDonald Cup behind Harvard University, and the women’s side producing a high calibre performance to earn a […]