Sports Shorts: Tennis, golf teams kick off fall seasons

Pecotic wins Farnsworth tournament titles

The men’s tennis team hosted the Farnsworth Invitational this weekend, a three-day event featuring competitors from 14 schools that also marked the Princeton debut of new head coach Billy Pate. Senior Matija Pecotic won the main draw of the singles competition and teamed with sophomore Zack McCourt to top the doubles event as well.

Pecotic, a two-time Ivy League Player of the Year, entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed with a No. 67 national ranking. He did not drop a single set in the four-round competition, defeating Columbia’s Winston Lin 7-6(2), 6-4 in the final. Pecotic and McCourt were hardly threatened in their tear through the main doubles bracket, with the closest match going 8-5.

The duo of seniors Matt Spindler and Matt Siow, ranked No. 36 nationally, reached the semifinal of the main doubles draw before losing in a tiebreaker. Junior Augie Bloom won his first match in the top singles tournament before losing to top-seeded Vasko Mladenov of St. John’s.

In a lower singles bracket, sophomore Michael Katz reached the finals before losing to Columbia’s Dan Morgan.

Golfers place seventh at Bethpage

The men’s golf team finished seventh of 16 teams this weekend at the McLaughlin Invitational, a three-round tournament hosted by St. John’s. Junior Greg Jarmas and freshman Quinlan Prchal tied for the Tigers’ top score, each finishing at plus-5. Senior Bernie D’Amato was one stroke behind at plus-6.

Princeton jumped from 11th place to seventh with a strong final round in which all four scorers shot either 71 or 72 on the par-70 course. Auburn and Louisville finished first and second, respectively, 17 strokes clear of the rest of the field.