When competing against an archrival at home, the pressure to win can be too much to handle.

But the women’s golf team relished the pressure when they played Princeton at the Yale Invitational on October 4 and 5. Finishing second to the Tigers by only five strokes overall, the Bulldogs shot 313 for the first round and 304 for the second round. Cindy Shin ’07 won the Invitational shooting 76 for the first round and a score of two-over-par 72 for the second round. Starting out in third place for the second round, the Elis performed well on Sunday and managed to come back to beat a tough challenge from Rollins College in Florida.

“I think our first day we struggled under the pressure,” January Romero ’06 said. “It was a home invite and we really wanted to win.”

Romero came in 18th overall with scores of 84 and 77.

Carmen Zimmer ’07 shot 81 for the first round but improved to 78 strokes for the second round comeback. She attributes the better performance on Sunday to greater determination.

“We knew we had to come back to beat Rollins so we had to play hard,” Zimmer said.

Besides Shin’s two-over-par performance, there were other highlights to the second round. Romero eagled on the par-5 16th hole, helping to bring the Elis closer to the Tigers and to edge out Rollins. Zimmer also eagled on the par-4 11th hole.

Lauren Ressler ’06 was the second Bulldog in the rankings, coming in 4th overall. Ressler shot 75 for the first round of play and 77 for the second.

Conspicuously absent from tournament play was Stephanie Wei ’05, who was still out with a back injury. Team members said that she was there cheering them on and providing good support.

“We have kind of gotten used to the fact that she is injured,” commented Romero. “Its sad, though, and we still wish that she were playing.”

The Elis have made improvements and hopefully will soon surpass the rival Tigers.