Women
In their five tournaments this fall, the women’s golf team never finished worse than fifth in a tournament, and the team is currently ranked sixth in the nation, according to Golfstat.com. “The team had … one of the best seasons of scoring that an Amherst women’s golf team has had,” said Head Coach Michelle Morgan.
The team started its season with a fifth-place finish out of 17 teams at the Dartmouth College Invitational. The Jeffs followed that weekend with a win at the Mt. Holyoke Invitational and a second-place finish at the Ann S. Batchelder Invitational at Wellesley College. Continuing their impressive team performance, the Jeffs managed second and fifth places in their two October tournaments at Middlebury and Williams, respectively.
According to Morgan, the Jeffs’ biggest disappointment this season was the second-place finish at Middlebury. “We were only one shot behind after the first day and did not play as strong as we needed to beat Middlebury. They beat us fair and square, but we let a couple of other teams finish ahead of us [on the second day] with some inconsistent play.” Still, the team consistently placed well, even among Div. I schools.
With the addition of talented rookies, this year’s team proved deeper than ever. “We had seven players that could contribute to team score,” said Morgan. “It gave us a chance to have a player step up when another may have been struggling a little more.”
The Jeffs lost just one golfer to graduation, Ali Berman ’08, and welcomed three new players. Consistently among the team’s top-five scorers were the three first-years: Elaine Lin, Laura Monty and Nina Yoo. According to captain Kinne Schwartz ’10, the team wasn’t counting on getting such large contributions from the rookies. “We didn’t know what to expect going in to the year with so many young players, but it seemed promising,” she explained. “We had excellent rounds from every player, and that’s exciting.” Joining the first-years in the scoring five were Schwartz and Hayley Milbourn ’11. Milbourn earned the team’s lone individual victory of the season with a win at the Middlebury Invitational.
Because the team competes in the spring as well, the golfers are already looking towards the second half of their year. Though Schwartz and Jordan Chafetz ’10 will be abroad this spring, and Alex Chang-Graham ’10 will be playing softball, the team will be joined by basketball player Amanda Otieno ’09. According to both Morgan and Schwartz, playing well enough to warrant an invitation to the NCAA Championship is a goal for the team this spring. “I think this team is the strongest we’ve seen in years, and the spring should only give us more chances to prove that,” said Schwartz.
Men
The men’s season, notable mainly for the team’s vast improvement, began with a disappointing sixth-place finish in the seven-team field at the Trinity Invitational. The next weekend, the golfers again secured sixth place at Middlebury’s Duke Nelson Invitational; this time, though, the field consisted of 22 teams. The finish was marked by a team score of 617—46 strokes lower than in 2007—and was partly thanks to first-year Nate Belkin’s second-place individual finish.
The men’s five scorers were even less fixed than the women’s. Belkin was joined often by senior tri-captains Will Collins, Chris Valentine and Glenn Wong, as well as Trip Wray ’11, Peter Theiss ’12 and Nate’s older brother, Mike Belkin ’11. Also, Adam Shniderman ’10 returned from a knee injury towards the end of the season to contribute to team scoring in the final two tournaments of the season.
The team is quick to point out, and is clearly proud of, its improvement from just a year ago. “I believe every returner had a better scoring average than they had last year,” said Head Coach Jack Arena. Despite losing two teammates in Jesse Corradi ’08 and Judd Olanoff ’08 to graduation, the team managed to score and place considerably better than last fall.
A week after the Middlebury tournament, the team finished thirteenth out of 20 teams at the Williams Invitational. According to Wray, “Guys played fairly well, and we put ourselves in a good spot for the final round. [But] the final round was not our team’s strongest day.”
The Jeffs had high hopes for the NESCAC Golf Qualifier at Middlebury. But, though qualifying for the spring championships had been a team goal, the Amherst’s sixth-place finish was two places short of the cut. “The greens at Middlebury are pretty tough, as were the pin placements [that] weekend,” said Shniderman. “Most of us struggled to really make putts, even those of us that didn’t putt poorly, struggled to really get any streaks going.”
In what was a largely satisfying season, Amherst’ final tournament was a disappointment. At the NEIGA Tournament, the nation’s oldest and largest golf tournament, the team placed 33rd of 44 teams. “We didn’t have our best showing … at the NEIGA Tournament. The cold, windy conditions made the golf course play really hard, and we just simply didn’t play that well,” said Wray.
Arena remains optimistic for the spring. “Outside of our last tournament, we had one of, if not the best, statistical seasons in my fifteen years of coaching. The last event was a disappointment, but overall I’d say the fall season was a success.”
Valentine agreed. “We showed great improvement from last year, consistently shooting below 310,” he said. If things go as planned, the team hopes to break 300 this spring.