One week after a strong opening to its season at the St. Lawrence Invitational, in which it finished third out of 12 teams, the Amherst women’s golf team played at the historic Nehoiden Golf Club to compete in the Ann S. Batchelder Invitational tournament at Wellesley College.
In a tournament dominated by Williams College for the past decade — the Ephs have won seven of the last ten tournaments — Amherst rose to the occasion, taking the top spot in a competitive and tight field.
Finishing with a two-day total of 619 strokes, the Mammoths bested the Ephs by a mere three strokes, marking the second time in a row that Amherst has captured the title at this tournament.
Amherst also finished ahead of NESCAC rival Middlebury, who had finished second to Amherst’s third in the previous weekend’s contest.
“Our main goal this season is to continue to have success on the golf course by putting ourselves in the best position to win tournaments,” head coach Elizabeth Davis said.
On the first day of play, the Mammoths wasted no time jumping out to an early lead. The key to this was the consistency up and down the Amherst roster, with four out of the five scoring golfers on the team recording rounds at or below 78.
Morgan Yurosek ’20 had the best round of the day for Amherst and the second-best overall, shooting a 76 on the par-72 course. Isabelle Ouyang ’21 built upon her impressive collegiate debut from the previous week, recording a score of 77.
Both Zoe Wong ’18 and Emily Young ’20 submitted scores of 78, and Lily Worden ’21 rounded out Amherst’s scorers, carding an 85 in her debut. At the end of the first day, Amherst held the lead by a mere two strokes over Williams, 309-311.
The second day saw much of the same for the Mammoth golfers, with consistency again the watchword of the day. Overall the team recorded a score of 310 strokes. This was enough to edge out Williams.
Again, the same quartet led the way for Amherst, with Yurosek’s second-round score of 75 tied for the third-lowest round of the day. Meanwhile, Wong and Young both matched their Saturday score of 78, while Ouyangposted a 79 on the second day of action.
Individually, Amherst golfers achieved at a high level, with four of the five competitors finishing within the top-five places at the tournament overall.
Yurosek finished in second place individually with a score of 151, good for just seven over par. Ouyang, Wong and Young all finished tied for fifth place with scores of 156, leaving the trio at 12 strokes over par for the weekend.
Even Worden, Amherst’s fifth golfer whose score wasn’t included in the team’s overall tally, showed her credentials, finishing tied for 22nd out of the 29 competing golfers. The strong showings of both Worden and Ouyang once again attest to Davis’s incredibly recruiting ability.
Looking to build on its strong run of play, the team will play in the Mount Holyoke Invitational this weekend, Sept. 23-24. Amherst finished in second place at last year’s event.
