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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Competing against a deep NCAA Division III field on one of the Northeast’s most storied courses, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) golf team posted a three-round total of +65 to finish 10th out of 15 teams at the 2025 Williams Fall Invitational, hosted at Taconic Golf Club. The Engineers showed resilience and flashes of strong play across the 54-hole weekend, including a bounce-back second round and a standout individual finish from freshman Zydon Yuan.
Playing 36 holes on Saturday, an increasingly common format in regional Division III tournaments, RPI navigated the firm greens and challenging pin placements at Taconic to post a +42 total after the first day of play.
In the Saturday morning round, RPI recorded a +23, struggling to find early rhythm but gaining footing as the day progressed. Yuan led the Engineers with a 74, collecting birdies on holes 2, 15, and 18. Fellow freshman Sujaan Singh carded a 77 behind birdies on 1, 3, 8, and 10.
The team responded well in the afternoon, shaving four strokes to post a +19. Yuan remained steady with a 75, while junior Pat Kiernan matched that total. Freshman Robert Chuang bounced back from a tough opening round with a 76, and senior co-captain Ryan Komp added a 77.
Head coach Matt McGarvey praised his squad’s effort: “The guys fought hard all day. Keeping the ball underneath the hole to avoid those downhill sliders is critical to scoring well at Taconic. I expect the team to continue to improve on Sunday.”
On Sunday, RPI matched its first-round score of +23 to bring its tournament total to +65, finishing in 10th place overall. Yuan turned in the performance of the day for the Engineers, firing a 1-under-par 70, tied for the second-lowest round across the field, to secure an eighth-place individual finish. He birdied four holes (1, 2, 14, 15) to cap off a consistent and impressive weekend.
Chuang added a 77 to close his tournament, while Komp and Singh each recorded rounds of 80. Despite climbing into the top eight during Saturday’s second round, RPI was unable to maintain that momentum on the final day.
Reflecting on the team’s performance, Coach McGarvey said, “Our team is young, and they struggled to keep the ball below the hole. The downhill putts on very firm greens at Taconic were very challenging.”
The Engineers return to action October 5 and 6, when they host the RPI Men’s Collegiate Invitational at Shaker Ridge Country Club in Loudonville, N.Y., the program’s home course since 2017.
