The Georgetown women’s golf team traveled to Charleston, S.C., on Monday for the Cougar Classic tournament. The Hoyas struggled mightily, finishing last out of the 17 teams competing with a score of 58-over par 922. Vanderbilt finished first at 27-under par and with Wake Forest on their heels at 26-under par. Last season, Georgetown finished 18th out of 19 to start the season at this same event, before slowly getting back on track in a season that included a second place performance at the Princeton Invitational, a third place at the Blue Hen Invitational, a victory at the Hoya Invitational and a second place at the Big East championship.

The Cougar Classic was held at Yeamans Hall Club, ranked one of the nation’s top 100 courses in each of the past few years, according to the Golf Digest. The par 70, 6,808-yard course is full of many unique features, including nearly identical par-fives as holes nine and 18, a challenging road hole and a Redan. A local favorite, the course remains popular even as it  approaches its 100th anniversary.

The Georgetown lineup featured three freshmen: Lauren May, Dana Choi and Esther Park. May lead the Hoyas with a score of 11-over par 227 in her first collegiate tournament. Choi finished with a score of 13-over par 229 and Park finished with a 19-over par 235. The rest of the Georgetown lineup was rounded out by sophomore Baili Park scoring 21-over par 237, and senior Ashley Fitzgibbons with a finish of 22-over par 238.

Fitzgibbons has been an important part of the team throughout her time at Georgetown. Her freshman year, she finished in an impressive 10th place in the Big East championship. The following year she improved to a ninth place finish in the same tournament. This first tournament was a rocky start for Fitzgibbons, finishing last on the tournament’s least successful team, but Fitzgibbons and the Hoyas can only improve from here.

The competition was especially steep at the Cougar Classic this year as Vanderbilt sophomore Auston Kim shot 16-under par over the course of 54 holes, setting a tournament record.

The Hoyas will look to put their start to the season behind them as they move on to Penn State for the Nittany Lion Invitational next weekend. The courses at Penn State are known for their outstanding caliber, and eight of the holes were designed by renowned course architect and professional Scottish golfer Willie Park Jr.

The Hoyas have another four tournaments left in the season, including the Nittany Lion Invitational. They will play in the Princeton Invitational the weekend of Sept. 28, the Yale Invitational the weekend of Oct. 5 and the Blue Hen Invitational in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on the weekend of Oct. 19. The season is far from over, but the Hoyas need to secure a strong finish at the Nittany Lion Invitational to crawl out of the hole in which they have unfortunately found themselves.