This past weekend at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass., the Jeffs matched their low one-day team score from the fall of 333 on Sunday, which was also the one-day low round for the tournament. In capturing third place, the Jeffs finished just 10 strokes behind bitter archrival Williams College.
Senior captain Ali Berman showed a lot of pride in the team’s effort this weekend. “The team had remarkable improvement from day one to day two. We talked all season about how we weren’t managing to play to our potential this spring, but on Sunday we finally stepped up and scored the lowest round of the tournament.” With strong performances across the board, this tournament was a great note to go out on.
Hayley “Taking-the-CAC-by-storm” Milbourn ’11 had another spectacular weekend, winning the individual title at Williams just as she has at Dartmouth, Mt. Holyoke, Vassar Colleges and the Jack Leaman Invitational. She matched her first-round score of 80 from Williams in the fall, but this time improving by six strokes. Her second round tied the Taconic women’s collegiate competition record set by Middlebury’s Julie Ellenberger in 2006.
With an 87-85-172, Cap’t Berman captured 13th place at Taconic—the highest she’s had all semester. “The sun was out and the course was in great condition. It was a great way to end my collegiate golf career,” said Berman about the weekend. Just behind her on the leaderboard was Kinne Schwartz ’10, who finished in fifteenth.
Though the team will not be participating in the Div. III National Tournament because of scheduling conflicts with Amherst finals period, the Jeffs know there is a lot to look forward to next year, especially with the ability of the coaches to guide the team.
“[Assistant] Coaches [Sarah] Harper and [Jim] Plumer did a great job taking over while [Head Michelle] Coach Morgan was gone,” said first-year Alissa Korpi. “They brought fun to the team and made practices enjoyable for all of us.”
The men’s golf team closed out their season a week ago today at Taconic Golf Course for the Little Three Championships. With senior leadership from captain Jesse “Big Wood” Corradi and former sports columnist Judd “The Professor” Olanoff, the team had a successful outing, finishing second behind Williams. In the alternate shot foursome matches (match play setting), Glenn “Legend” Wong and Corradi fell just short, giving two holes on the front nine and one on the back. Another close second was the hockey duo of Will “Big Stick” Collins and Trip “T-Rex” Wray, who lost by the same margin. The only player to win against Williams, in fact, was Cornelius “Half Man Half Amazing” Banta, who bested his Williams opponent in singles match play.
The team was largely successful against Wesleyan, as is usually the case, winning seven out of eight singles matches. The Jeffs will be losing the leadership of “Big Wood” Corradi. Coach Arena said about the senior captain, “As a player Jesse had an exemplary work ethic and a quiet, but determined competitiveness. As a captain he is well respected by his teammates and coaches and has proved to be a terrific leader. He’s such a quality person and I think that’s what the program will miss most.”
While the Jeffs will miss “Big Wood,” there is still hope from the younger players, as Adam “Tiburon” Shniderman and “T-Rex” Wray provide a promising future for Amherst men’s golf and its loyal fans.