Look out sports fans, Hayley Milbourn is back on the scene, and this first-year is again leading the Amherst women’s golf team on a drive towards a Little Three and a NESCAC title. Milbourn, who dazzled the world of Northeastern college golf with stunning wins at Dartmouth and Mt. Holyoke Colleges in the fall, found some magic in her bag once more and posted the top two-day score at the Vassar College Women’s Golf Invitational hosted at Casperkill Golf Club in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Overall, Amherst finished fourth out of 12 teams, behind bitter NESCAC rivals Williams and Middlebury Colleges, which finished first and third, respectively.
Milbourn looks to have another strong season, beginning with a first round 83 (in the top five of rounds played that day) on an unfamiliar course. “I had never played this course before, so the first day was a learning experience with all the blind tee-shots and approaches at Casperkill. Luckily I put up a competitive enough score to stay in it and was able to use that experience to improve on the second day,” said the champ. The experience she gained on the first day was certainly valuable because even with the harsher conditions of the second day, she was able to drop her score six strokes to shoot a tournament low 77. While this tournament did not show Amherst’s best score, a combined 707, the team was able to stay within the top five spots and, in doing so, displayed their ability to stay consistent in unfamiliar surroundings. High in the tournament rankings was sophomore Kinne Schwartz, who shot an 86-89-175 and earning her 19th place.
Closest in the field to Milbourn was another star first-year from St. Mary’s College in Indiana (the sister school of Notre Dame University). Her first round 81 bested Milbourn, but she was not able to keep up amid the harsher weather conditions and pressure of day two. Finishing with a 161, just one stroke shy of Milbourn, she will no doubt be a fierce competitor for years to come.
The team is now looking forward to the Massachusetts State Championships at Mt. Holyoke this Friday, a tough but familiar course. There, the Jeffs look to draw on Milbourn’s strength and show the NESCAC what they’re capable of.
The men’s golf team had another tough tournament this weekend at Skidmore College. Facing tough competition, including the host school that had one player shoot a first-round 69, Amherst hung tough and produced good scores the first day. The Amherst leader after one day was junior Chris Valentine with a 78, and right behind him was junior Glenn “Legend” Wong, with an 81. Though each player had a tougher second day, these two juniors show promise for the future and played strong leadership roles as Captain “Big Wood” Corradi could not play this weekend. Finishing in 11th place with a combined score of 682, it seems that Amherst needs something to get their season going.
Junior Marcus Bradley commented, “Guys are working hard out there, we just haven’t gotten the results we’re looking for. Little Three’s are what we’re focused on and we have two weeks to get where we need to be. I think we can do it.” Positivity is what the team needs because in two weeks, Amherst will be going up against two strong foes, Williams College and Wesleyan University, on the weekend of April 24 in Williamstown, Mass. Until then, Head Coach Jack Arena’s team will be “shapin’ it” in practice everyday here in Amherst, looking to shave strokes off of their score.