Both the men’s and women’s golf teams competed this past weekend, the women at the Mount Holyoke Invitational Tournament and the men at the Williams Invitational. Both teams finished strong with the women coming in third overall and the men placing fourth.
At the Williams Invitational, the men’s golf team finished the weekend in fourth place, trailing only RPI, Skidmore and Williams. RPI won the event with a 598, Skidmore and Williams both scored a 600, and the Panthers shot a 604. Even though the first day was not as ideal as the team would have liked, they turned it around on the second and improved by three places in the overall ranking.
Senior Eric Laorr ’15 tied for fourth in the overall event after a two-day total of 147. Competing in his first collegiate tournament, Rodrigo Andrade ’17 finished just two strokes behind Laorr with a final score of 149. Andrade’s score was good enough for seventh on the individual standings, an impressive debut performance given his limited experience in college sports.
Charlie Garcia ’15 finished tied for 23rd for the Panthers, John Louie ’15 was two strokes behind in 33rd, while Chris Atwood ’14.5 rounded out the Middlebury competitors with a 52nd-place finish.
Overall, the men were fourth in the 19-team event, finishing ahead of NESCAC rivals Trinity, Hamilton and Amherst.
At the Orchards Golf Club, the Middlebury women finished third at their respective event behind champion Williams and runner-up Ithaca. Williams shot a two-day total of 623, Ithaca finished with 635, while the Middlebury Panthers ended the weekend with a 640 mark.
Michelle Peng ’15 led the Panthers with a two-day score of 154, placing her six strokes behind the overall leader in a tie for fourth. Peng has been consistent lately and hopefully she will be able to continue her strong performance during other tournaments in the fall.
Jordan Glatt ’15 and Hope Matthews ’18 tied for 11th place for Middlebury with totals of 161. Theodora Yoch ’17 came in 20th with a 164 and Emma Kitchen ’14.5 finished in 54th with a 187 to round out the scorers for Middlebury – her first round of sub-90 golf since beginning her career three years ago.
“We had a solid performance this weekend, with two players shooting their lowest collegiate rounds” Glatt said. “Michelle led the team again with another impressive tournament. We hope to use this result to gain momentum for our upcoming home tournament this weekend.”
The men’s team will travel to Hamilton this coming weekend to take part in the NESCAC qualifier, where they bested the field last year. The women will stay home and compete in their own Middlebury Invitational.
Next weekend proves to be a good test for the women, but everyone’s eyes will be on the crucial men’s NESCAC qualifier. The NESCAC qualifier will determine the four teams that are given a spot in the NESCAC tournament in the spring.
