The women’s golf team wrapped up its fall season in Wellesley, Massachusetts last weekend, Oct. 19-20, at the Nehoiden Golf Club for the Ann S. Batchelder Golf Invitational. The Panthers finished third out of nine teams, collectively shooting a 640 to put them at 64 over par for the weekend. The Panthers finished 31 shots behind Williams, who set the pace at 33 shots over par with a total score of 609 for the weekend, which ended with the familiar sight of the Ephs taking home the tournament trophy.
NYU shot a 629 and finished second, 11 shots ahead of the Panthers. Middlebury was able to beat out rival Amherst for the second straight weekend, as the Lord Jeffs shot a 661, 21 behind the Panthers. After a fifth-place finish in their first tournament of the fall season one month ago, Sept. 19-20, at the NYU Invitational, the Panthers have managed to finish third in every tournament since.
Head Coach Bill Mandigo “thought [the team] played better down the stretch,” in the Batchelder Invitational than it had in previous tournaments this fall. This likely helped the Panthers to edge out Amherst, their main competition, from a spot on the podium.
“I was very pleased for Lilia Everson [’19] this past weekend. She had two great days,” Mandigo said. “Katharine Fortin [’18] and Helen Dailey [’19] have been very consistent the past few weeks and will continue to improve,” Mandigo added, hinting at the prospect of continued success in the spring.
Indeed, freshmen Everson and Dailey, as well as Fortin, stood out for the Panthers in the Batchelder Invitational. Everson and Dailey had the best rounds of their fledgling collegiate careers.
Everson finished fourth on the individual leader board as she shot back-to-back 77s for a 154 on the weekend. Fortin maintained her consistency this fall with back-to-back 79s for a 158 on the weekend, again shooting her name onto the individual leaderboard with her eighth-place overall finish. Meanwhile, Dailey shot an 81 in Saturday’s round and an 80 in Sunday’s for a weekend finish of 161. Though she was just three strokes behind Fortin, Dailey placed just outside the top 10, tying with Catherina Li of NYU for 11th.
Sophomore Hope Matthews ’18 was the other Panther who counted on the score sheet. She shot a 167 — 82 on Saturday and 85 on Sunday. Matthews had a very strong first-year campaign, but has struggled to break 80 in her sophomore fall. Monica Chow ’18, the team’s lone senior, finished shot back-to-back 85s to finish the weekend with a 170. Though Chow tied for 24th individually (in a tournament with 62 participating golfers), her score did not factor on the Panthers’ team scorecard.
Sunday’s round was the second this season in which Williams shot 300 or lower as a team and was the fourth time that each of the Ephs who counted on the score sheet finished in the tournament’s top 10 individual finishers. In fact, a Williams player has clinched the individual title of every tournament held this fall. The closest the Ephs’ streak came to being snapped was at Middlebury’s invite, when Fortin and Amherst’s Devyn Gardner finished in a four-way tie for first with Phoebe Mattana and Elizabeth Gudas of Williams.
Although the men’s squad has already packed their clubs away for the winter, the all-Conference squad was released last week. Scott Guidotti ’19 won NESCAC Player and Rookie of the Year honors, while Bill Beaney was tabbed as NESCAC Coach of the Year. The eight-man first team all-NESCAC squad indicates that when teams let their first-years play it has had a big impact. To be sure, Middlebury is the trend-setter: Guidotti, Phil Morin ’19 and Reid Buzby ’19 are the Panthers’ three representatives on the NESCAC first-team squad. Joining the class of ’19’s trio in post-season recognition, Rodrigo Andrade ’17 earned a spot on the second all-NESCAC team.
“Being able to win as a team feels so much better than simply doing well as an individual,” Buzby said as he reflected on his first season. “The upperclassmen have made the transition from junior golf to college golf very easy; they are always willing to help out. I have just been very happy to be able to contribute to the team the last few tournaments.”
