SOUTH HADLEY, MA – Clouds covered the sky as the Ephs powered through Day 1 of the Jack Leaman Invitational at the Orchards Golf Club, hosted by Amherst College. After a somewhat chilly day, the Ephs sit tied for first with Amherst at 306 (+18). On the individual side, senior
Catalin Yturralde leads the event, shooting a 72 (E). Slick and undulated greens made it difficult to score low today, but the team fought back to put them in a good position going into Sunday.
Yturralde had a steady round, carding three total birdies, two of which came on the back nine next to seven stellar pars. Junior
Tianyi Zhuang followed in the team lineup, shooting a 77 (+5). Zhunag had no birdies on her scorecard, but made strong pars and only a few bogeys to keep her score low. First-year
Euna Lee shot a 78 (+6), with two birdies on the par-5 3
rd and the par-4 8
th. Following Lee was first-year
Victoria Kim with a 79 (+7). V. Kim's lone birdie came on the par-5 16
th. Rounding out the team lineup was senior
Malini Rudra with an 81 (+9). Malini also made a great birdie on the 16
th, matching her teammate Kim. Playing as an individual was sophomore
Gio Kim, shooting a 76 (+4). G. Kim made 3 birdies in the span of 4 holes on the front nine, allowing her to shoot even par on the front.
Eph head coach
Tomas Adalsteinsson remarks, ""We struggled a bit on the fast greens today and found ourselves too often on the wrong side of the hole. The team did a good job staying patient and fighting for each shot. We learned a lot that we can take with us into tomorrow's round."
The Ephs tee off tomorrow with a shotgun start at 9:00 am, and will face rain and wind in addition to the challenging course. Bouncing off of the momentum from last weekend, the team looks to win for the second time this season.
