Mount Golf roars into spring season

Steve Morano
MSMU Class of 2024

(3/2025) When the leaves start to change colors and the wind starts to become too much for the golfer to stand while on the links, the game often becomes sedated as it sits through the snow of winter. But as the sun starts to warm the grass and the air once again in the spring time, the game of golf livens as if it had never gone away in the first place.

At Mount St. Mary’s University, both the men’s and women’s sides of the collegiate golf team are currently gearing up for their respective 2025 spring campaigns as the teams race down the finish line to Lake Buena Vista, Florida with the culmination of their season at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships from April 17 to April 19. After the fall half of the season Head Coach Kevin Farrell and Assistant Coach Brent Will, and of course the rest of their players, had in 2024, there is much to anticipate when it comes to play resuming in March.

In the fall season for the men’s team, the golfers played out to good overall scores and high finishes. The team is made up of eleven players for the 2024-24 year: Santiago Bonequi (So.), Shane Cole (Fr.), Fisher Coleman-Sayer (So.), Martin Hurtado (So.), Tyler Kimble(So.), Felix Lin (Redshirt Fr.), Christian Molina (So.), Nathan Pheng (Jr.), Daniel Shelley (Fr.), Devin Smith(Sr.), and Aaron Sorkin (Sr.). Their highest team finish in 2024 came at the Red Flash Invitational in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on October 8, where the Mountaineers played out to a fifth-place finish against a field of teams including West Virginia, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Holy Cross, Monmouth, Saint Francis, Mercyhurst, and Bucknell. Scoring wise, the team’s best total score at an individual tournament came at the same Red Flash Invitational, where the team shot an overall score of +39 with five golfers participating at the tournament.

Devin Smith had the best overall fall season amongst the Mountaineers men’s golfing corps, as the senior from Waynesboro, Pennsylvania shot a score of -3 at the Bucknell Invitational on the weekend of October 13 to October 15, with Smith winning the individual title in Lewisburg. At the same tournament, Smith left the fourth hole with a hole in one, ensuring his place atop the leader board. Aaron Sorkin also landed close to a first place finish at the Red Flash Invitational while shooting +6 over par. The senior from Westminster, Maryland had an overall fall scorecard of +5 while averaging a score of 75.60. Martin Hurtado also had a great fall season, shooting +7 at the three tournaments he played at while having a average tournament score of 76.57.

For the women’s team, their fall season was highlighted by both the female golfers’ skills and how they played out to phenomenal scores against phenomenal competition in which they were continuously put up against. This side of the team is made up of 6 athletes: Erika Cui (Sr.), Makensy Knaub (Jr.), Anna Serrano (Fr.), Allie Sexton (Jr.), Jennifer Sorkin (Jr.), and Naomi Yacyshen (Jr.). The team won the Battle at the Beach Invite on September 17, with a team score of +102 against a field of schools that included Sacred Heart, Delaware State, LaSalle, Monmouth, Wagner, Bucknell, Le Moyne, Hofstra, and Lafayette. But their best score came in their sixth place finish at the Red Flash Invitational on the weekend of October 7 to October 8, where the squad shot an overall score of +69. The team also shot a +78 on the weekend of September 28 to September 29 at the Navy Invitational and a score of +81 on the weekend of September 9 to September 10 at the Sacred Heart University Fall Classic in Milford, Connecticut.

Among their best scorers in the fall was Makensy Knaub’s performance at the Red Flash Invitational, where the junior from York, Pennsylvania shot +10 over par. Knaub averaged a score of +6 over par across the fall with a average round score of 77.60. Jennifer Sorkin averaged a score of +8 over par in her four weekends of the fall season with a average round score 79.60 for the junior from Westminster, Maryland. And the junior from Auckland, New Zealand, Naomi Yacyshen, averaged a score of +8 over par with a average round score of 79.40 rounding out her fall season. She shot her best score of +15 at the Navy Invitational amongst a field of schools including Bryant University, College of the Holy Cross, Hofstra, Howard, Lafayette, Lehigh, Long Island University, Monmouth, Queens University of Charlotte, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, The Citadel, Towson, U.S. Naval Academy, and Wagner.

Starting their season in the spring of 2025, the Mountaineers will play at numerous tournaments that will both test their mental willpower, as well as their physical abilities on the greens. The men start out their season at the Peoples Golf Championship at Sea Palms Resort in St. Simmons Island, Georgia from March 13-15. They then travel back to Maryland to compete at the Carpetbagger Classic at the Washington Manor Course on the weekend of March 22-23. Travelling to Berlin, Maryland for the Battle of Rum Pointe, hosted at the Rum Pointe Seaside Links by Iona University, on the weekend of March 28-29. Their final matchups before MAAC’s come at the Testudo Cup, hosted by the University of Maryland’s PB Dye Golf in Ijamsville, Maryland, from April 5 to April 6.

The women start their season on March 24 in Williamsburg, Virginia at the Kingsmill Intercollegiate Invitational hosted by the College of William and Mary at the Kingsmill Resort starting on March 24. The women’s team then travels to Pawleys Island, South Carolina at the Caledonia Golf & Fish Club for the Golfweek Spring Invite starting on April 1. The women’s golf team ends their season on the weekend of April 12 to April 13 with a dual-match against the United States Naval Academy away in Annapolis.

No matter what the future of the season holds for both Mount men’s and women’s golf, this fact is for certain: their scores in the fall indicate that both teams are incredibly capable of putting together performances that are special. Their talent is immense and with the competition they face on a week to week basis, they are bound to perform well. With their finishes in the fall and their competition slatted for the spring, the Mount has positioned themselves for a hefty preparation for when conferences begin in Florida. Now more then ever, the Mountaineers look to make a wave in a sea of schools that have often undermined their talents and potentials as a team.