Making its final journey of the fall, the Yale women’s golf team traveled to the state of North Carolina to square off against Big Three foes that also had to make the long haul to the Tar Heel State.

The Bulldogs finished in fourth place overall in the Ross Resorts Invitational in Southern Pines, N.C., by shooting a 622 through play over the last two days. Rollins College, of Winter Park, Fla., claimed the title with an final score of 600. Second and third places unfortunately fell to Ivy League nemeses Princeton and Harvard, respectively, the only other Ancient Eight teams in the tournament. The Tigers finished with a score of 607 at the end of two days, and the Crimson finished with 615.

The Elis leading scorer was team captain Cindy Shin ’07, who shot scores of 75 and 77 on the two days to finish eighth overall in the individual standings.

The lineup also consisted of Ellie Brophy ’10, who finished in 15th place and Erica Im ’09, who finished 31st with an overall score of 158. Im said she felt her game was lacking in certain areas.

“Putting was a big problem for me on the second day,” she said. “My long game was OK, but I couldn’t make any putts to save my score.”

Natasha Spackey ’09 and Lindsay Hong ’08 completed the lineup, and their efforts showcased the depth of the squad, especially on Monday, when the Bulldogs were tied for third place.

The Elis fell to the Tigers and the Crimson for the second time this season after finishing in third place behind the two rivals to them at home in the Yale Intercollegiate on Oct. 1. Yale, then playing it its home digs, was, however, able to knock off Rollins in the New Haven tournament.

The Bulldogs competed in four tournaments this season, including the Ross Resorts Invitational and the Yale Intercollegiate. They started off the season by securing sixth place in the Dartmouth Invitational and followed it up by finishing second place in the Penn State Invite.

Im said she felt the team could have performed better.

“We didn’t do as well as we wanted to,” Im said. “But we’re preparing for the spring and ultimately for the Ivies. We know what to work on from now on, and we’ll use the winter and our spring break team trip to hone our games before the Ivies.”

The Bulldogs return to action in March after a long winter break, when they will aim to reclaim their Ivy League Title in the spring. As defending champions, there will be immense pressure and expectations on the team. They kick off the spring season in Gainesville, Fla., competing in the Lady Gator Invitational on March 11, 2007.