The women return all of their golfers from the fall season and also welcome back Katie Gravel '03, who was abroad last semester. The team is currently second in their region, which consists of schools from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. They are also ranked 12th in the nation among Division III schools. "We had some great finishes in the fall which we hope to continue in the spring," said Kuchefski.
"The depth of our roster this season really has to be our greatest strength," said captain Jaime Ratner '02. "The team's level of play has truly benefited from the addition of three freshmen and nobody lost to graduation last year."
The freshmen are now playing with a semester's worth of experience. Freshmen Emily Foran, Sarah Godwin and Meg Sullivan have all been finishing in the top spots for the Jeffs. "Collectively, the freshmen class is a solid and talented group of players," said Ratner.
For spring break, the women traveled to Cape Cod for a week of cold-weather practice. This helped them gain experience playing in cold weather.
In Cape Cod, the women played 18 holes everyday, dividing their time among three different courses, Oyster Harbors, Ocean's Edge and the Ridge Club. It wasn't as strenuous as last year's spring break in Florida, which was spent waking up at the break of dawn and playing until the sun went down. This week, they started off later, because it was too cold to play in the early mornings. By the end of the day, they were exhausted and drained because of the bad weather. "It was basically building our endurance against the rain and elements," said Kuchefski.
This arduous week of play and their upcoming practices will help prepare the women for their first spring tournament on April 6-7. They will travel once again to Oyster Harbors in Cape Cod for the Boston College Invite. "It will be a good competition for us," said Kuchefski. "We've all played the course now. We're hitting the ball well so we're hoping for a good turnout."
Gravel has a very positive outlook on the future of the women's team. "With our depth and experience, this team has the opportunity to really surprise people this season," said Gravel. "Building off of last season's successes, this team has a real shot at winning the Massachusetts State Championships and being a realistic contender at the Northeast Championship." They ultimately hope to qualify for the NCAAs because it will be held at the Orchards in Holyoke, giving the women a home field advantage.
The men's team, on the other hand, traveled to sunny Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. to practice their swings. "It was nice to get out and play after the winter," said Jude Volek '03. Like the women, they only practiced over break, with the exception of one informal match against Williams.
Although the team lost, it was a close game,with top players, captain Mike Blaisdell '02, Volek and Justin Sharaf '05 all performing well. "It was kind of hard because we played a lot of golf in a short amount of time," said Volek.
The men return all of their players from the fall season, with the exception of Todd Ballaban '03 who is spending his spring semester abroad. With Blaisdell and Volek leading the team, and Ballaban usually occupying the third spot, Sharaf will have to fill the spot that Ballaban is leaving behind. "We need a good spring [season] from Justin," said Volek. "We need him to step up and take the reins from Todd."
The men look to have a strong season that will possibly lead them to the Nationals. The team's first tournament is the Lou Flumere at Bentley to be held Thursday, April 11. "If we want to go to the Nationals, we have to get off to a really good start, so hopefully we'll be able to do that," said Volek.