It was a hole they could not climb out of.

A late start time and deteriorating weather helped put the women’s golf team 18 strokes down to a hot-shooting Princeton team after the first day of the Brown Bear Invitational. Even after outshooting the Tigers on Monday to finish with a team score of 601, the Bulldogs still fell behind St. John’s and Harvard to finish fourth.

“This weekend’s tournament was definitely a wakeup call for us,” captain Alyssa Roland ’11 said.

Roland mentioned the staggered tee-off as a possible factor in the team’s bad start. Because Princeton teed off earlier in the day, the Tigers were able to take advantage of a calm morning which, by the time the Elis teed off, had turned into a windy afternoon.

“While that is by no means an excuse for some of our scores that first day, we definitely could have shot lower with milder wind,” she said.

Despite the weather, Roland and Seo Hee Moon ’14 were both able to tie for third individually, shooting two over par. Roland said the team’s experience playing in windy conditions gave the two players the preparation necessary, and that their short games were strong enough to get them out of trouble when they missed the greens.

Other members of the team said they were prepared for a strong showing by the Tigers, but admitted that they were surprised at just how strong their opponents came out of the gate. Sun Park ’14 said it was good to see Princeton in order to prepare for the Ivy Championship. This year the tournament will take place at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, N.J.

“We know what [the Tigers are] capable of so we know what we need to work on in order to beat them,” Park said. “We’re going to work hard so we can get our revenge at Ivies.”

The team will not compete this weekend, giving them two weeks to prepare their short games for the small greens they will find in Northfield.