The women's golf season has been exciting and eventful, to say the least. Rookie phenom Hayley Milbourn stole the show in the first two tournaments of the year, which included her shooting under par in her first collegiate round against tough Div. I competition at Dartmouth College. As the popular saying goes, "success breeds success," and that is certainly true for the Jeffs. The team started off well, finishing 10th and fifth at Dartmouth and Mt. Holyoke College, respectively­-both five-place improvements over last year. The fall season ended even better, as the Jeffs placed fourth and second in the final two tournaments of the season at Williams and Wellesley Colleges.

For students and alumni alike, a successful athletic season at Amherst College means one thing: beat Williams. The strong showing at Williams, then, was a shining moment for the team. Recording a solid first round 333 and sitting pretty in the fairway at third place behind St. Lawrence University and Wellesley, all Amherst had to do was keep it on the screws for one more round. And that is exactly what the Jeffs did. By increasing their day one total by only four strokes on the second day, the Jeffs finished with a score of 673 for the weekend, barely edging out Williams' 674.

While Milbourn finished another good weekend in seventh place (80-82-162), the clutch performers who pushed Amherst ahead of Williams were Alissa Korpi '11 and Alex Chang-Graham '10. Both ball-strokers improved their shots from rounds one to two (90-84-174 and 93-87-180, respectively). The weekend was especially significant for Chang-Graham, as she broke 90 for the first time this season. Kinne Schwartz '10 also produced a stellar 15th place finish (80-87-167), matching Milbourn's 80 on the first day. Captain Ali Berman '08 stayed consistent, finishing 20th (83-87-170).

Perhaps most importantly in the overall scheme of things, the Jeffs were able to use weekend's success to propel them to an even better finish at Wellesley the following weekend. None of this, of course, could overshadow the fact that the one-point win over Williams earned the Jeffs bragging rights in one of the oldest school-sports rivalries in our nation's history.

Strong performances from the Wellesley women earned them first place at the tournament, followed by Holy Cross University and St. Lawrence. The individual champion, however was Tory MacNeil from Elmira with an impressive 76-75-151.

Sticking with the upward trend of the season, the Jeffs' final tournament of the fall was their best. Amherst found itself in third-place after a first-day score of 340, behind Wellesley and Williams. The team came out strong on Sunday, though, shooting a 334, keeping pace with eventual-champion Wellesley and jumping over Williams to claim second.

The weekend was a strong end to the season for the team, as every Jeff placed in the top 18 of the 48-woman field. Milbourn again dominated, finishing second overall and claiming the tournament's overall round low, with a 74 the final afternoon.

Without doubt, Milbourn arrived on campus at the right time for the Jeffs; with Sarah Harper graduating last year, there was a void at the top of the lineup entering the season. Milbourn has made the transition to a new era as seamless as possible, helping Amherst continue its run as a top competitor in NESCAC and NCAA women's golf. Her reign over Div. III golf began at Dartmouth and continued as she finished first at the Mount Holyoke tournament at Orchards Golf Club in Holyoke. Although the first-year showed tinges of humanity at Williams-finishing seventh overall-she rebounded nicely at Wellesley to finish second.

Milbourn is hardly on her own, however. Rather, she is part of the youth that are propelling this Amherst team to the next level. With the experienced leadership of Berman and the talent that the underclassmen possess, the team can go into the offseason with confidence and a record of success that has the Jeffs expecting big things in the spring.