Women’s Golf Captures First Place Overall at George Phinney Classic
Issue   |   Tue, 10/03/2017 - 21:35
Amherst Athletics
All eight of Amherst’s golfers finished tied for 19th or better in a field of 67.

In a successful weekend for the Amherst women’s golf team, the Mammoths registered a come-from-behind victory that saw them take home the crown in the George Phinney Classic at Ralph Myhre Golf Course at Middlebury College. Competing in a field of 12 schools, Amherst finished the tournament three strokes ahead of Middlebury after being down one stroke after the first day to the host team.

This was Amherst’s second victory of this fall season, and it comes during a run of play that sees the purple and white ranked ninth in the Division III women’s golf rankings. Amherst has not registered a result lower than third in any tournament this fall.

In the George Phinney Classic, Amherst started in fine form, with all golfers registering scores below 90 strokes. Amherst and Middlebury were the only two teams to accomplish this feat on the first day. The team scores at the end of the first day were very close, with Middlebury registering a total of 320 strokes on the day and Amherst right behind them at 321. Vassar, in third place after the first day, was 11 strokes back at 332.

Individually, Amherst’s golfers also excelled, with first-year Isabelle Ouyang ’21 continuing her fine form to start her college career. Ouyang carded the second-best score of the entire field, shooting a 78 on what was a challenging course. Middlebury’s Blake Yaccino had the low round of the day, carding a 76.

The second day saw the Mammoths hit their stride, with four out of the five scoring members of the Amherst golf team improving or matching their previous rounds. As a team, Amherst scored the best team round of the tournament, recording a team total of 317. Standout performers from day two included Morgan Yurosek ’20 and Zoe Wong ’18, each of whom improved their scores from the previous day, with each carding a 79 in the second round.

Each Amherst golfer finished within the top-20 individual golfers, with four out of the five competing in team play finishing within the top 10. Katie Rosenberg ’19, competing as an individual, also finished within the top 10 at seventh overall. Ouyang was the low Mammoth on the weekend, who finished the tournament second overall.

Amherst will conclude their fall slate this upcoming weekend when they travel to the Williams Fall Invitational at the Taconic Golf Club. The Mammoths will then resume play in the spring.