Playing golf in warm, North Carolina weather is many people’s idea of a good time. Luckily for members of the women’s golf team, they were able to do just that and finish their fall season on a high note.

On Monday and Tuesday, the Bulldogs finished sixth out of 12 teams with a combined score of 937 over three rounds at the Ross Resorts Invite at the Mid Pines Golf Club in Southern Pines, N.C. The Bulldogs were a mere four strokes shy of fifth place Rollins. James Madison University won the par-72 event with a score of 911, followed by a tie between Kentucky and Alabama for second place.

Cindy Shin ’07 posted the best individual showing among the Elis, coming in fourth place with an eight-over par 224. Shin’s first round of play was strong with a score of 72. She finished off the tournament with scores of 75 and 77.

Next in line for the Bulldogs was January Romero ’06, who tied for eighth place with a 12-over par 228. But the overall score does not paint the complete picture. Romero improved her score in each round, dropping from 77 to 76 on Monday to 75 on Tuesday.

Ressler, who won the Harvard Invitational, enjoyed a good start, shotting 78 and 77, respectively in her first two rounds of golf on Monday. But a tough 83 on Tuesday dropped her to the third spot in the Bulldog ranks and earned her only 29th place in the individual competition.

Ressler was not hesitant about her disappointment with her last round performance.

“It was sad to go from third after the first 18 holes to finish 6th,” Ressler said. “But overall it was a success.”

Jessica Shapiro ’06, who rounded out Yale’s top four, finished 45th overall with a 31-over par, posting scores of 80, 84 and 83. The top four finishers for each team contributed to the overall team score.

“We faced our toughest competition and we played our most consistent tournament probably as a team,” Shapiro said. “We figured that we could get top six and we accomplished that.”

The Bulldogs were lucky to get a break from the cold fall weather and play in good conditions. The temperature on Monday was in the 80s. But on Tuesday it rained for the first eight holes. No team was able to take advantage of the variable weather conditions because it was a shotgun start, where all teams start at the same time at different holes around the course. Lauren Ressler ’06 said that the last day of play was tougher.

“With the rain and the humidity, the ball just didn’t go as far as we wanted it to,” Ressler said. “Our first 36 holes were stronger.”

The Bulldogs will resume play in the spring starting mid-March. They will have a well deserved rest until golf practice resumes. This winter, Ressler plans on lifting and going to the driving range with some of her teammates to stay sharp for Ivy League powerhouse Princeton in the spring. She feels confident that they can defend their Ivy League Title if they work together as a team.

“I think we are really excited for the spring season,” Ressler said. “It’s not going to be easy after how Princeton has been playing. It will take hard work but we know we can do it.”