In a 15-team field that featured NESCAC rivals Middlebury and Williams Colleges, the Jeffs had to battle through the world renowned Orchards links, which in addition to playing host to the most prestigious ranks of Div. III golf, has hosted the U.S. Women's Open on several occasions. The difficulty of the course helped to explain the increase in the team's two-day score from 706 last week at Dartmouth to 370-357-727, good for 10th place overall. Senior captain Sarah Harper again wowed the Amherst golfing faithful as she put together a very solid individual weekend of 81-79-160, capturing fifth-place. Her leadership has been unwavering, which is of the most important reasons why the squad continues to be competitive.
The five-person roster for the weekend was filled out by junior Kristin Beneski as well as first-years Kinne Schwartz, Jordan Chafetz and Alexandra Chang-Graham, all of whom were present at last week's tournament. Schwartz, Chafetz and Beneski were not able to improve on their totals from their last tournament, shooting rounds of 86-85-171, 102-95-197 and 107-107-214, good for 16th, 61st and 71st, respectively. Although the team score did not get better from last week, Chang-Graham was able to shave 20 strokes off of her two-day total, firing 101-98-199 and placing 64th individually.
Despite the minor scoring setback, the team feels confident about the upcoming weekend. "Although we didn't place very high this weekend, we made some significant improvements as a team," explained Harper. "We are gearing up for NESCACs and looking forward to competing with the Ephs on their home turf."
As was demonstrated by the Jeffs at the Orchards, the problem for the squad this year is not their ability to post low rounds individually, but to put together two consecutive and solid tournament scores. As they prepare for NESCACs Oct. 8, the Jeffs will focus on maintaining good team scores for both days. This is a very attainable goal considering the encouraging play of the first-years. Amherst is nearing that point of ideal consistency and production, which will be a major factor in its success this weekend.
Harper certainly believes that she has better golf up her sleeve, despite shooting low-ball for her squad and breaking 80 for her third round out of four this season. "I ended the first day with two doubles and a bogey, and the second day was peppered with three putts and two more doubles. If it weren't for those tricky three-footers, I think I would have put together some very solid rounds," reflected Harper. "But there is no use thinking about that now."
Luckily for the Jeffs, Head Coach Michelle Morgan has put a strong emphasis on the scoring aspects of the game, concentrating on all of the components of the short-game. If it was only putting that prevented the squad from firing even lower rounds, look for the Jeffs to make a serious comeback in NESCACs as the confidence of their captain will certainly trickle down to the rest of the team as they improve their short-games and their scores in preparation for this weekend's tournament.