COMPLETE RESULTS
South Hadley, MA— The morning began with groups of threesomes teeing off from 10:57 AM on in 10 minute increments. The Ephs were paired with one player from Amherst College and one player from Wesleyan University. It was great to see players from different schools finally be able to compete in the same playing groups.
Coming back off a win at their home invite last week, the Ephs were eager to post some low scores and take the title for today's tournament, NESCAC #1. This year, due to covid, the NESCAC championship is separated into two Saturdays, spanning two weeks. The Championship is hosted at Amherst College's home course, The Ledges Golf Club, a course that holds the Ephs lowest team score record.
Even with a tough start to the day, the Williams team grinded through, turned it around in the back half of their rounds, to post team total of 319. The Ephs are currently in the lead after NESCAC #1 with a three-shot lead over Hamilton College at 322. Host Amherst is third with a team score of 323.
The Ephs was led by sophomore
Malini Rudra with a score of 78, currently and she is tied for first place individually.
"I'm happy to see our team in the lead despite us not having our best first rounds," said Rudra. "I was hitting the ball well through the round but mainly the struggle came from making putts.", "Today was the first time we played this course for the three of five players who played today. Now that we know this course requires target golf, where we need to place tee shots strategically, we will better prepare for next weekend with that purpose and aim to clinch the title. I expect much lower scores with better damage control next Saturday from all of us."
Freshman
Melinda Yuan and junior
Olivia White tied for 4
th place with a total of 80. White, even with a rough start of +8 through the first nine holes, turned it around and came back with an impressive even par back 9 holes of 36. Freshman
Tianyi Zhuang (T9) followed 1 behind Yuan and White with a 81, but finished phenomenally, making three birdies in the last three holes, posting a 36 on the back 9. Senior
Holly Davenport finished with a score of 90.
"It wasn't a good day for us," said Eph head coach
Tomas Adalsteinsson. "We had a tough start to the round. We didn't manage to keep the ball in play during the starting holes, and that's when this course shows its teeth. Even so, our team kept fighting for each shot and never gave up. I'm super proud of how they turned it around and finished strong! We will reflect on this round, work on the things that need improvement, and carry with us those things we did well. It's only halftime for this NESCAC championship."
The Ephs will seek to capture another victory with even more birdies next Saturday in the the second part of this tournament. Round 2 will begin with tee times starting at 11AM the Ledges Golf Club next Saturday.
