Women

The women’s golf team sustained its early season success at the Mount Holyoke Invitational this past weekend, securing a third-place result in the team competition with a two-day total of 654.

The team, which began the season ranked 12th nationally among Div. III schools, continued its solid swinging this weekend, trailing only Williams (634) and Middlebury (644). Starting the weekend strong, the Jeffs actually held second place at the end of Day 1.

Much of Amherst’s success this weekend can be attributed to Nina Yoo ’12, who finished eigth overall (160) and first among the Jeffs. The 79 she shot on Day 2 matched her score from the second day of last week’s event, the NYU invitational, which turned out to be a team- and tournament-best.

Right behind Yoo at Mount Holyoke was fellow senior Elaine Lin, who tied for 10th (161). Kristen Lee ‘14 (166), Laura Monty ’12 (167) and Sooji Choi ’14 (172) also posted respectable scores. The well-balanced effort allowed the Jeffs to hold off fourth-place Wagner by a mere three strokes, propelling them into a week of preparation for the Middlebury Invitational next weekend.

“Our short games need to be sharper in order to score a little more competitively,” said head coach Michelle Morgan, “[but] we will get there with a little more work and a little more patience.”

“The team has shown great camaraderie and support for each other and our senior leadership has had a significant impact on the younger players of which I am very proud,” Morgan said.

Following Middlebury, the team continues its busy fall schedule by competing on two more consecutive weekends, traveling to the Williams Fall Classic on Oct. 8 and to the Wellesley Invitational on Oct. 15.

Men

After an impressive performance at Middlebury 10 days ago, the men’s golf team struggled a bit at the Williams Invitational this past weekend, placing 12th out of a field of 18 in the team competition.

Junior Ben Johnston set the pace for the Jeffs with a score of 153, good for a 13th place individual finish out of 90 total competitors. Johnston shot a 78 on the first day of play on the par-71 course, improving his score to 75 on Day 2. Amherst as a team managed to shave seven strokes off its Day 1 total of 327 on Sunday, finishing with 647 overall.

Besides Johnston, Nicholas Koh ‘14, who placed second at last weekend’s Middlebury event — tying the Amherst record on the Middlebury course with a 72 last Sunday — shot a 162 at Williams. Nate Belkin ’12, Josh Moser ’15 and Erik Hansen ’14 shot 163, 169 and 172, respectively.

Salem State became the eventual tournament winner with a total of 592, boasting the tournament’s top two individual performances: Nick Zolotas (143) and Chris Berry (144). Manhattanville (600), Williams (605) and Middlebury (616) followed the Vikings. Fellow NESCAC rivals Trinity, Hamilton and Bowdoin also finished in the top half of the field.
The Jeffs will resume tournament play next weekend, hoping for a reversal of their fortunes when they travel to Wesleyan to take part in the NESCAC Championship Qualifiers.

“Outside of Ben Johnston, we didn’t perform at our best. We’re confident that with some productive work this week, we’ll have our top five players playing at their best for the NESCAC Qualifier this upcoming weekend,” coach Jack Arena ’83 said.
Last year, Amherst qualified for the Championships for the first time since the current format was instituted in 2007.