Women
The women’s team defended its Vassar Invitational title last weekend, beating second place Williams by six strokes at the Dutchess Golf and Country Club. As a team, the Jeffs posted a score of 345-325-670, while Williams had a line of 343-333-676 to capture second. The Jeffs were in fourth place after the first day, but a strong finish on the second day allowed them to overcome the competition.
The first day proved to be a challenge for everyone. “This course was very narrow, had a lot of blind shots, and none of us had ever seen it before,” said senior captain Kinne Schwartz. “The entire field posted rather high numbers because of that.” After they got to know the course, though, the Jeffs used that knowledge deftly in the second day, shooting 20 strokes below their first-round score to take a six-stroke lead.
In particular, Schwartz was a big part of the charge in the final day, shooting a 76 for the overall low score of the weekend. Though all five of Amherst’s players shot lower on the second day, Schwartz showed the most significant improvement, shaving a whopping 13 strokes off her first-day score to finish with a final line of 89-76-165. Considering that the 89 was her worst score of the season and the 76 was her best of the season, the turnaround signified a huge comeback. “I was really happy with my second round, especially on that course, which isn’t forgiving,” said Schwartz. “Posting a score that I’m capable of but didn’t produce the first day made Sunday’s win even better.”
Individually, Schwartz finished tied for third out of the whole field. First-year Liz Monty finished one stroke behind (84-82-166) to earn sixth overall. Junior Hayley Milbourn was just a stroke behind Monty, shooting 85-82-167 and finishing tied for seventh.
The Vassar Invitational marks the third tournament title that the Jeffs have taken this year. The Jeffs took the Middlebury and Williams Invitationals in the fall, so this was the first title of the spring season. They hope it provides the same momentum it did last year, when the Jeffs took four out of five events leading up to the NCAA Championships following the Vassar Invitational.
The Jeffs will see three days of play this weekend. They will look to defend the Massachusetts State Championships on Friday, after which they will host a tournament at Hickory Ridge and the Orchards on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Men
The men’s golf team finished ninth out of 19 at the Hampton Inn Classic hosted by the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth at the Allendale Country Club this past weekend. Elms College took the low team score for the tournament, shooting 318-308-626, 19 strokes ahead of the second-place team Bentley College.
Though the Jeffs felt they underachieved slightly, they were able to put on a reasonable showing considering they had not played since the fall season. “As a team, we did okay. We were a little rusty, as this was our first tournament of the spring,” said junior Trip Wray. “But to finish ninth out of 19 teams wasn’t terrible. I think we expected to play a little better, but it was out first tournament, so we came in with realistic expectations.”
The men did much better on the second day than they did on the first, shooting 12 strokes lower on Sunday than on Saturday to end with a line of 345-333-678. All but one of the Jeffs improved on their first day score, with Wray being the lone member of the Amherst team that did not do better on Sunday than on Saturday.
Despite not being in his top form, Wray managed to put on a respectable performance, posting the low score for the Jeffs and finishing tied for 10th overall out of a field of 93 with a line of 78-80-158. Though Wray was only three strokes behind the individual leader after the first day, a less than perfect second day meant that he would be unable to close the gap. “Individually, I had my moments where I played really well and my moments where I could tell I haven’t played for a couple months,” said Wray. “I was pleased to finish in the top 10.” Wray ended up 10 strokes behind the low score in individuals.
Sophomore Nate Belkin shot an 83-80-163 for Amherst’s second lowest score and finished tied for 21st. First-year Alex Butensky shaved seven strokes off his first round score to finish 88-81-169. Ben Johnston ’13 and Matt Parsons ’12 provided the other scores for Amherst, posting scores of 96-92-188 and 100-95-195, respectively.
Amherst will get back on the course this Saturday to meet their rivals at the Williams Invitational.