The women’s golf team heated up at the otherwise cold and windy Dartmouth Golf Tournament at Hanover Country Club this past weekend.
Led by individual victor Cindy Shin ’07, the Elis displayed their superior talent over the 20-team field, scoring a 629. Second place St. Johns’ finished 17 strokes back, followed by Harvard. The Cantabs were 21 strokes off the Bulldogs’ pace.
“We went in with high expectations, and it was a good start for the season,” said January Romero ’06, who was second overall.
All the Eli golfers improved their scores on the second day of competition, after some of the rain and wind from Saturday had died down. Sudden lapses of wet weather are common challenges golfers must overcome in the Northeast.
“Everyone struggled on the first day,” captain Lauren Ressler ’06 said. “It was very wet, but we adjusted to the conditions faster Sunday.”
Shin fired a 154 over the 36 holes played to eke past teammate Romero Sunday for the individual lead. Romero shot an 80 on the second day to finish with a two-day total of 155.
All five of the Eli golfers finished in the top 30, including two freshmen Ellie Brophy ’08 and Lindsay Hong ’08. The new additions are familiar with playing on the national level, but this was their first time representing the Bulldogs. The four rookie members of the squad have competition experience from junior tournaments, and Brophy’s older sister is a junior on the Notre Dame golf team.
“You prepare as much as you can,” Yale head coach Mary Moan said. “But it is still a big adjustment.”
Moan added that she was encouraged by the freshmen’s performances and expects them to continue to get better as they get comfortable at this new level of play.
“It was a really good chance for the freshmen to feel out the way tournaments work,” Ressler said.
Three Bulldogs — Shin, Romero and Brophy — got out to a quick start, securing favorable marks for three of the Elis’ four team scores. Ressler shaved six strokes off her Saturday round to finish the weekend with a 162, providing the final score for the team competition.
While the Elis were never really challenged over the weekend, Moan said her team cannot become complacent with its play and must improve.
“We could have played better than we did in the first round,” the Eli coach said.
Two years ago, the Elis opened up the season with a sub-300 score at Dartmouth, and Ressler said this squad is capable of shooting below this watermark. History making aside, Ressler said the team’s goal is to score in the low 300s in all tournaments, and she believes it is highly possible if four members of the squad can be on their game the same weekend.
The Elis head to Princeton, N.J., next weekend to compete in a three-day tournament that includes defending Ivy League champion Princeton at the Springdale Golf Club.