Women’s Golf Ends Season At Williams as the Men Get Ready For NESCAC’s

Last weekend, April 22-23, the golf teams headed straight south for a two-hour car ride down US Route 7 to the familiar confines of the Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass., for the Williams Spring Invitational. Both teams finished third, with the women’s squad wrapping up the 2016-17 campaign with a two-day total of 641 and the men’s squad getting one last match under their belts before NESCACs, shooting a collective 593.

On the women’s side, the always reliable Katharine Fortin ’18 was the Panthers’ low scorer. Fortin shot 154 for the weekend and tied for fifth in individual play. She shot below 80 in both of her rounds with a 76 on Saturday and a 78 on Sunday.

First-years Blake Yaccino ’20 and Chloe Levins ’20 ended their rookie seasons on high notes, as Yaccino finished just outside of the individual top 10 shooting a 161 for the weekend. She was one-under 80 on Sunday. Levins had a solid outing on Saturday as she went into the clubhouse with a 78, but fell off of her pace on Sunday as she shot an 85 to tally a 163 for the weekend.

Helen Daley ’19 shot a 168 for the weekend and Hope Matthews ’18 shaved four strokes off of her Saturday score with a strong second round on Sunday, bringing her two-day total to 170 to round things out for the Panthers.

Theo Yoch ’17, the team’s lone senior, competed in her last collegiate match and put together one of the best weekends of her time in the program, as she walked off of the course Sunday with a weekend total of 162 on her scorecard.

Meanwhile, the men’s squad got one last chance to play in a competitive setting before they head back down US Route 7 to play at Taconic again this weekend, April 29-30, in search of their fourth-straight NESCAC Championship crown. If they accomplish the feat, it would mark the eighth time in 11 years that the NESCAC Championship trophy will come back to Middlebury.

The top three team finishes on the men’s side of the tournament were Williams, Trinity and Middlebury, with the Panthers 15 strokes off the pace set by the Ephs. Trinity finished with a weekend total of 589, four strokes better than the Panthers. Nonetheless, the team is confident that it can make up those deficits this weekend.

“Winning NESCACs my four years at Middlebury would mean the world,” Rodrigo Andrade ’17 said with an eye toward the playoffs, “especially since I was a walk-on. Middlebury has never won four in a row, and I feel that if we play well, we can win.”

Phil Morin ’19 was more direct in his assessment of the situation. “We’ve got a chance to make history. Let’s do it.”

Reid Buzby ’19 led the way for the Panthers this past weekend, as he was one-under par with a 141 for the weekend to tie for third on the individual board. Next in line for the Panthers was Joe Ko ’18 who shot a 150 for the weekend to tie for eighth.

After shooting a 73 on Saturday, Andrade entered play Sunday sitting just outside of the top five but dropped out of the top 10 as he shot an uncharacteristic 79, his worst round of the season.

Jeffrey Giguere ’20 finished the weekend with a 151 for the Panthers, while David McDaniel ’19 and Morin rounded things out with respective weekend totals of 154 and 159.

This weekend, things get teed off on Saturday midday at Taconic and should wind down by mid-afternoon on Sunday. For those who will be following the team’s progress over the weekend, Buzby enters NESCACs with the hot hand and Andrade is always sure to have a strong showing at the big tournaments. Keep an eye on Giguere as well, as Panther first-years have a knack for recording strong weekends at the conference championships.