MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — With three birdies of the opening round of the George Phinney Classic at Ralph Myhre Golf Course on Saturday afternoon, Williams junior Michelle Ding carded a 3-over 74 to help the Ephs women's golf team end the day in third place with a 311 (+27). Hamilton leads the 12-team field at 19-over par with host Middlebury seven strokes back (and one ahead of Williams) in second.
Ding's day started a bit slowly on the seventh hole as she was 3-over after her first six holes, but she settled in to play even par the rest of the way with two more birdies to her credit, leaving her just one stroke off the pace behind co-leaders Aubrey Lee of Hamilton and Ella Han of the host Panthers.
First-year Angela Nip, who led the Ephs last weekend at the Polar Beat Shootout, turned in a 7-over 78 with one birdie and 10 pars (matching the most among her teammates) on her card, putting her in a tie for 12th in the 66-player field. One stroke behind Nip in a tie for 17th was senior Emma Abramson, who notched a pair of birdies in her round. The final scoring player for Williams was sophomore Zoe Wynn at 9-over par (80).
First-year Sadie Wu made her collegiate debut by playing as an individual, and she availed herself well by ending the day tied for fifth with a 76 (+5) and two birdies.
"The team had great energy and attitude throughout the round," said Williams Head Coach Tomas Adalssteinson at the end of the day, "but it didn't quite fall for us today. We will be ready for the second round tomorrow."
The final round of the George Phinney Classic will tee off at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday with a shotgun start.
