The men’s golf team placed seventh of 15 teams in its first tournament of the fall season.
Azara Mason
1:42 am, Sep 11, 2025
Yale Athletics
The men’s golf team is back in action. On Tuesday, the team kicked off its fall season at the Metropolis Intercollegiate hosted by Columbia University.
The Bulldogs returned key players and welcomed new members Preston Howe ’29 and Ansen Tran ’29 to bolster their roster as they aim for success in the year ahead.
All seven members of the squad competed in White Plains.
“It is exciting to be back!” Captain Will Lodge ’26 said. “We are all fired up to play again and are very grateful for the opportunity to represent Yale.”
In the two-day tournament, the Bulldogs placed seventh out of 15 teams with an overall score of 897 (+57) across the 54-hole event.
Matt Lin ’28 led the Bulldogs, finishing sixth place overall at +6. Lin carded rounds of 73 (+3), 72 (+2), and 71 (+1), closing with his best round of the week.
“In front of every tournament my mentality is always to win, play smart, and have fun,” Lin said. “By being more efficient and deliberate on how I practice, I’m hoping to improve on being more consistent this year. It seemed to work for this tournament.”
Lin described using the summer after his freshman year as a “chance to reset,” focusing heavily on his short game and entering the season “refreshed and motivated.”
After a strong freshman year season in which he won Ivy League Golfer of the Month in March, Lin is still striving to improve. This week, his consistency kept Yale in contention to win the tournament, and he recorded multiple birdies across all three rounds to notch the team’s top finish.
“With tucked pins and very fast greens, I made sure to stay patient and choose conservative targets to minimize the chances of short-siding myself and to give myself the best look at a par or birdie,” Lin said.
Andrew Stickel ’27, competing as an individual, shot a standout 68 (-2) in the final round Tuesday — the lowest score of the day for Yale and one of the best rounds of the entire tournament.
“Andrew’s final-round 68 was arguably the greatest positive of the week,” Lodge said. “His impressive finish to a very difficult week embodies the exact grit and resilience we look for on the team.”
Although it is still early days in Lodge’s captaincy, the leadership he has shown both on and off the course has been noticed by his teammates.
“Will is harboring a great culture for the team, making sure nobody feels excluded from anything,” Stickel said. “He is always around to give advice to the underclassmen, a big proponent of team bonding and someone who loves to ‘work hard, play hard.’”
Lodge, Stickel and the rest of the Yale men’s golf team will compete next week from Sept. 15 to 16 at the Highlands Invitational at the Chicago Highlands Club in Westchester, Ill.
