Exhibiting a consistency many golfers can only dream about, Harper finished the weekend with an 81-79-81. Her 32 pars over the three days tied for third-most in the field. Harper's best work came on the par-four holes, at which she averaged a score of 4.47, the 13th best par-four average in the field.
In her first competitve action in nearly a year, junior Ali Berman followed Harper on the scorecard. Back from a semester abroad in Japan, Berman tied for 40th overall, getting progressively better with final totals of 88-85-80 for a three-day score of 253. Three places and one stroke behind her was first-year Kinne Schwartz. Schwartz, coming off a stellar fall season as the Jeffs' number two player, bounced back from a sub-par first round of 90 to finish the final two rounds with scores of 83 and 81. "She came back really solidly on the second day," said Haper, referring to Schwartz's nine-shot improvment from the first-round to the third-round. "She definitely recovered from her first round struggle."
First-year Jordan Chafetz finished 70th overall, shooting a personal weekend best of 85 in the second round and ending with a three-day total of 269.
Rounding out the field for the Jeffs was newcomer Amanda Otieno '09. Having played basketball in the winter, the weekend marked Otieno's first collegiate golf action. She gained some experience, finishing with a total of 317.
While it took the Jeffs a round to work off the rust, the eighth place represented a good opening to the spring season. Evidenced by the bloated first-round team total of 352, compared to the 332 and 333 that followed, the Jeffs were able to shake off the rust rather quickly. "The grass was a little slower than we were used to," explained Harper. "But I think it really showed the girls what we can do. I was just really happy with how it went." Amherst's next action isn't until April 14, when they will compete at the Vassar Invitational.