Tuesday’s non-conference girls golf scrimmage between Greenwich High School and Greenwich Country Day, was a match featuring a Cardinals team with a storied history that’s experienced a lot of success and a Tigers squad that is just getting started and finding its way.

For the Cardinals, it was a good day at their home course – Griffith E. Harris Golf Course – as they kept on a winning pace in preparation for their road match against FCIAC rival New Canaan today. For the Tigers, it was an opportunity for their players to compete in a stroke play match, instead of the match play format they have tested their skills in so far this spring.

Freshman Allison Bauer shot a 44, while sophomores Charlotte Langhorne and Caroline McShea each carded rounds of 47 to pace Greenwich, which finished with an aggregate score of 183 at Griffith E. Harris Golf Course. Led by freshman Mia Rodgers’ round of 44, Greenwich Country Day posted a team score of 223.

Langhorne, who played at the No. 1 spot, parred the par-5 third hole and the par-3 fifth hole for the Cardinals, who are 2-0, going into today’s match against New Canaan.

“I started off strong,” Langhorne said of her season. “In the first match, I was the medalist, the second match I did really well playing in the wind that I did and this match, I feel like I did all right with my irons and my drive, but the putting just wasn’t there today. It happens, but overall, it was a good round.”

McShea, who like Langhorne is in her second season on the squad, sank a par putt on the par-3 seventh hole for one of her highlights of the day.

“Today’s match it wasn’t the best of the matches I had, but it was decent,” McShea said. “I thought it was pretty good, I hit my drives pretty well. I kept it to a minimum with putts and my drives were good, so that’s good.”

A freshman, Rodgers paced Greenwich Country Day’s young team, which is in just its second varsity season, carding a stellar round of 44.

“Today’s round was good, it was our first nine-hole match instead of match play and it was pretty good,” Rodgers said. “Stroke play was something new, I really liked it. I also like this course a lot.”

GCDS plays in the FAA, which includes competitive, Greenwich-based schools such as Greenwich Academy and Sacred Heart Greenwich.

“It feels good to start something new and carry something we can improve on and hopefully, draw some attention to,” said Rodgers, who played at the No. 1 spot. “The goal for my freshman season is to improve a lot. I’m playing at a pretty high spot, so I hope to learn a lot and have fun at the end of the day.”

Sophomore Sarah DesChamps played at the No. 2 spot for GCDS, posting a score of 57, while teammate Reva Bodas shot a 53 at No. 3.

“I started off pretty slow, but I ended up pretty strong and I’m glad I pulled it together,” DesChamps said. “I think the future of our team is really good, last year we didn’t have as many players, but now we have a good solid five and we’re going to get more, so I’m really excited for the future. I’m excited to be one of the leaders and growing the program.”

Sophomore Zarah Hillman shot a 47 at No. 3 for the Cards, while Bauer carded a 44, at the fourth spot.

“I started out a little rough, I had a double, double, but I just kept my confidence,” Bauer said. “I knew that I could shoot a lot better than that, so I just kept going and I got a birdie on the third hole and I started getting more consistent with more pars at the end and I rounded out with a par on 9 and a total score of 44.”

Cardinals coach Taner Karakas is pleased with the early season results his team has displayed.

“We’re very strong this year, we have a lot of returners and we have added some additional parts to a team that has experience,” said Karakas, whose Cardinals should be one of the teams contending for the FCIAC title.

Following its road match against New Canaan today, Greenwich hosts a tough Trumbull team Thursday at The Griff.

“I think we’ll have the same strengths this year, not only with the same reputation as last year, but bringing the same amount of passion to the course that we have this year,” Langhorne said. “We have some strong players returning, so it should definitely be a good season.”

Said McShea: “I feel like this year it’s even stronger, we’ve got some incoming freshmen that are good and captain Ella Fish who is one of my good friends and I think this season is going to be a good season.

“I think it’s great all the players are amazing, we’re a close team and we support each other a lot, so I really like how the team is shaping up,” Bauer noted. “I’m really excited about the rest of the season. As soon as the weather gets better, it’s going to be enjoyable it feels awesome to be on varsity.”

Greenwich Country Day is coached by a familiar golf figure in Greenwich – Jeff Santilli. Santilli has served as Greenwich High School’s boys varsity coach for more than two decades, leading the team to numerous FCIAC Tournament championships and multiple CIAC state titles. He will still coach the Cardinals’ boys team during the fall season. This marks his first season as the girls and boys coach at Greenwich Country Day.

“This is a great young group and they have shown a lot of interest,” Santilli said. “With three freshmen and one sophomore, the future is bright. We are showing them what high school golf is all about. They are getting it.”

Santilli knows the match against Greenwich was a good learning experience for his team.

“They got to see the difference of playing stroke play today, instead playing match play,” he said. “This is why I set it up – for our team to see a state championship caliber team. We are also fortunate to play in the FAA with Greenwich Academy and Sacred Heart, they have good teams too. We’ve taken a few lumps, but again we lost most of our matches 3-2, by a point. The support they have shown for each other is a welcome addition.”