The women’s golf team established themselves as a dominant force this weekend in the opening tournament of their spring season in Poughkeepsie, New York. Out of the twelve teams at the Vassar College Invitational, the purple and white finished second with a team score of 649, falling only to NESCAC rival Williams College. Distancing themselves from the rest of the pack, Amherst finished 29 strokes ahead of third-place Middlebury and 31 strokes ahead of fourth-place SUNY Cortland.

Jamie Gracie ’17 led the charge on day one, holding the second best individual score after 18 holes with 77 strokes. Kate Weiss ’19 and Zoe Wong ’18 both boasted individual scores of 80, which earned them fifth place overall among the individual leaders.

A strong performance from Maggie Schoeller ’19 helped the purple and white to end the day with a total score of 322, keeping them tied in first place with Williams heading into day two.

Weiss had another strong showing on day two of the tournament, when she led Amherst with a team low of 76 strokes. She was followed closely by Gracie, who recorded a 79 for the day. Wong and Schoeller rounded things off with scores of 85 and 87 respectively, helping to secure Amherst’s second-place finish.

Weiss and Gracie had particularly notable performances, each finishing the tournament with a total of 156 strokes. Their efforts garnered them a two-way tie for third place among the top individual scorers.

“We had a great start to the spring season,” Weiss said. “The conditions were tough, but we were still able to score well. We are looking forward to preparing for our home tournament next weekend.”

The team returns to action this weekend when they host the Jack Leaman Invitational.