Men
In their final event of the 2013 season, the Men’s golf team suffered a heartbreaking loss at the Little Three Championship last Wednesday.
Competing against Wesleyan and Williams in a distinctive one-day format, Amherst finished the day tied with their archrivals at six points apiece, but lost the title based on a tiebreaker. It was a disappointing finish for the Jeffs, who broke the Ephs’ 14-year Little Three winning streak last season and were looking to build a streak of their own.
Hosted by Amherst at the Hickory Ridge Golf Club, the tournament began with foursome alternate-shot matches on Wednesday morning. Hoping to get off to a solid start, the Jeffs did just that by sweeping Wesleyan in four matches. The Ephs, though, matched Amherst’s result, as they won 4-0 against the Cardinals as well.
The two victories set up an important foursomes match between the archrivals. Behind impressive play from two tandems, the Jeffs were able to come out ahead of the Ephs, 2.5 points to 1.5. The team of Alex Butensky ’14 and James Line ’16 earned a solid victory 6-and-4, while the sophomore pairing of Jarvis Sill and Josh Moser earned Amherst’s other full point, edging out a 4-and-2 win. Nicholas Koh ’14 and Ben Johnston ’13 wrapped the victory up for Amherst, halving their matchup and giving Amherst an insurmountable lead.
Building on that momentum, Amherst began the afternoon singles competition on a strong note. Against Wesleyan, the Jeffs won all eight head-to-head matches, pulling out a sweep yet again. Impressively, first-year James Line absolutely dominated his match, winning eight of the first 11 holes to claim Amherst’s most lopsided victory on the day.
With the victory, the Jeffs needed only to tie the singles event against Williams to earn their second-consecutive Little Three title. With Sill and Moser earning easy victories in their matchups, Amherst appeared to be in great position to do just that.
Unfortunately for the Jeffs though, they were unable to come through. Poor execution on the final holes doomed Amherst, as Butensky and Koh were unable to capitalize on opportunities in each of their matchups, allowing the Ephs to sneak away with a 4.5-3.5 victory in the event.
With the Ephs earning back the point they lost to Amherst in the foursomes competition, the teams finished the afternoon tied for the Championship. However, on the basis of their greater match differential, Williams earned the tiebreaker and came away with the title.
Although disappointed, Amherst has to be proud of their effort on the day. It was a respectable finish to their season, and the impressive performances of underclassmen bode well for another strong run next year.
Women
Behind impressive performances from Kristen Lee ’14 and Liz Monty ’13, the Women’s Golf team placed third at the Williams Spring Invitational last weekend.
Travelling to the Taconic Golf Club, Amherst held off a strong charge from fourth-place Vassar to edge out the Brewers by three strokes. The third-place finish marked the Lady Jeffs’ best result this spring and will give the team a lot of confidence heading into the NCAA Championship in mid-May.
For Amherst, the key at Taconic was getting off to a strong start. Although Monty suffered through a bit of a rough patch on Saturday, carding an uncharacteristically high round of 90, her teammates picked up the slack. Three Jeffs carded rounds in the 80s to help Amherst to stay competitive with a day-one total of 350.
Among those standouts was Lee, who shot a 12-over par 83 to lead the Jeffs on Saturday. First-year Devyn Gardner also played well, building on a recent stretch of solid performances to post an opening-round 89.
Both players continued their strong play in the final round. Facing very quick greens on Sunday, Lee posted an impressive round of 87 to tie for ninth place among individuals. Gardner matched her score from Saturday with another 89 to earn a top-20 finish.
The star on Sunday, however, was Monty, who recovered well from her disappointing opening round. The senior responded with a nine-over par 80, the third-lowest round on the day, to tie Lee for ninth place. Behind Monty’s strong play, Amherst was able to improve on their day-one score, shaving off three strokes to post a final-round 347.
With their impressive finish, the Lady Jeffs closed out their regular season play in style. They can now look forward to the NCAA Championship tournament in two weeks. Their appearance will mark the program’s first return to the postseason since 2009.
With a standout player in Monty and a strong supporting class, the Lady Jeffs will certainly be looking to make a splash in the season’s final event.
