Undaunted by a rain-soaked course, cold temperatures, and darkness, the women's golf team finished third overall at the Mount Holyoke Invitational this weekend in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
The strong finish was just the most recent in a string of impressive showings by the team in this particular tournament. Since 1993, the women have placed at least as high as third place every year.
Sam Sommers '99 had a disappointing first round on Friday, carding a 90, but she bounced back with an 81 on Saturday. Her two-day total of 171 was low enough to bring her a fifth place finish. Lauren Epstein '00, two strokes back at (88-85) 173, also finished in the top ten individuals. Meredith Johnson '98 finished in twelfth place with rounds of 89-88--177.
Hartford won the team title with a combined score or 676. Boston College was second with 709. Dartmouth's third place score of 718 was thirty strokes ahead of fourth-place Boston University.
"Mount Holyoke's course is one of the only courses in the country designed for women, and it's a course we always look forward to playing," said Cara Mathews '99.
The Orchard, as it is called, was built in the 1930's by the father of a female student at the college specifically for the women's golf team. It is a par 72, and has been assigned a slope rating of 133, which is above average.
Slope is a measure of course difficulty used by the U. S. Golf Association to compare one course to another. The Hanover Country Club is listed as 120 when it is set up for a women's tournament.
Poor weather took some of the fun out of playing for the Big Green on Friday after rain saturated the grass and resulted in a long-playing course. Play was slow, and the two last groups to tee off, which included Epstein and Johnson, had to play the eighteenth hole in the dark and putt by car headlights.
"They had us back on the men's tees on a few holes that made some of the par fours unreachable in two shots," said Sommers. "Between the wet conditions and long yardage the course played more difficult than Yale had the week before."
Both the skies and the team's play improved on Saturday, though the round ended up taking at least five hours.
"Everytime you tried to get a rhythm going, you had to stop and wait for the people in front of you," said Epstein.
Despite the less than ideal conditions, Johnson was complimentary of her teammates' play.
"Our individual, Courtney Dill '00 broke 100 for the first time in competition," Johnson said. "She is really improving quickly, which looks good for the team in the future."
The women, though fairly happy with their play up to this point in the season, have a competitive feeling about the upcoming ECAC Championship meet.
"Our third place finish was disappointing because we definitely could have beaten Boston College, but the most important thing for us is to look forward and focus on ECAC's," Mathews said. "We have two weeks to really sharpen our game before we head to William and Mary for our last fall tournament."
That tournament will be held October 18th and 19th.
