Golf Teams Ready to Club Opponents
By Carlyn Robertson '14, Managing Sports Editor

Women

The women’s golf team started the fall season strong. They opened 2010-11 with an 11th place finish at the Dartmouth Invitational, competing against 19 teams from Divs. I, II and III. The Jeffs ranked third among the Div. III teams. Three-time NGCA all-American Haley Milbourn ’11 had the team’s lowest score with a 163, and they placed third in the Mt. Holyoke Invitational, with junior Nina Yoo leading the way with a two-day score of 157.

In the Middlebury Invitational, the Jeffscame in fourth in a field of six with a two-day score of 708. Milbourn came in seventh individually, followed by Elaine Lin ’12 in ninth place. First-year Sooji Choi came in third among the Jeffs. Then, the Jeffs placed second out of 10 in the Williams Invitational and second of six in the Wellesley Invitational to close out the fall season. Williams edged out the Jeffs by just two strokes at their own invitational, but the Jeffs performance won them the NESCAC Women’s Golf Tournament Title for the second year in a row. Milbourn placed third overall with a score of 160. Finally, the Jeffs had an overall team score of 670 at the Wellesley Invitational, with Liz Monty ’12 leading the Jeffs, finishing third individually with a 157.

The Jeffs head into the spring season with captain Milbourn leading the way. Juniors Yoo, Lin and Laura Monty make up the core of the team, but the sophomores and first years had a good showing in the fall and will likely step up for the Jeffs in the spring. They are ranked No. 9 in the spring’s first Golf World/ NGCA coaches’ poll as one of only three NESCAC teams in the top twenty-five.

Men

The men’s golf team will be looking to senior co-captain Trip Wray to carry them through this season. Wray had the Jeffs’ lowest scores in the final three events last year and started the fall season off strong. He tied for second place individually at the Trinity College Fall Invitational, leading the Jeffs with a score of 75 on the first day and 69 on the second. His performance helped lead the Jeffs to a 611 team total, which put them in third place out of eight teams. The Jeffs earned sixth place in this tournament the past two years, so this finish set them off to a promising start.

The Jeffs placed 16th out of a field of 25 teams with a score of 642 at the Duke Nelson Invitational at Middlebury. Wray led the Jeffs with a two-day total of 157. Alex Butensky ’13 and Nicholas Koh ’14 had the next best scores on the team. The Jeffs finished twelfth out of eighteen teams at the Williams Invitational, with junior Nate Belkin leading the way. He was the only Jeff to score below 80 both days. Rookie Koh shot a team-low of 76 on the second day of the Invitational.

The team earned a spot in the NESCAC championships this spring with a third place finish in the NESCAC Qualifier. The Jeffs had a team total of 598. Williams edged them out for second place by just a stroke, while Middlebury took first with a 585. Wray earned First Team all-NESCAC Honors after tying for third place with a score of 145, and Belkin got a spot on the Second Team with a 147. Koh and classmate Erik Hansen also earned points for the Jeffs, as they finished off the fall season at the inaugural NESCAC Modified Match Play Invitational with a fourth place finish. The Jeffs did not qualify for the NESCAC Championships in 2008-09, so they have already positioned themselves to significantly improve upon on last season. Wray will continue to be a force for the Jeffs, and the addition of freshmen Koh and Hansen contributes to the Jeffs already solid lineup.

Issue 18, Submitted 2011-03-09 05:10:48