Golf teams wrap up season Strong finish for golfers at Williams' shootout

Author: Jason Lockhart

The men's golf team had an extended golf weekend at Williams' Taconic Golf Course. They first played in a tune-up on Friday, making up for the previous weekend's postponed tournament. There they placed eigth out of 15 teams. On Saturday and Sunday the team competed at the Northeast District Shoot-Out, comprised of the top 12 teams in New England. The Panthers placed fifth, finishing with a combined score of 622.

"Without question we are the most satisfied with our finish at the District Shoot-Out," said Mitch St. Peter '06.5, who led the Panthers with a two-day total of 152 and tied for 13th overall. "We tied our season low round of 310 on Saturday and shot 312 on Sunday. These are two good scores considering Taconic Golf Club is one of the most challenging courses we play and this tournament is the most competitive one we play in all year."

Williams came storming back on Sunday to win the championship, clinching one of the three NCAA spots this spring. Williams was in third after the first day, five strokes behind Day 1 leader Skidmore, but shot a 289 on Sunday to pull ahead. Skidmore and New York University also earned NCAA bids by finishing second and third, respectively.

The conditions at the tournament varied with rain on Saturday and wind on Sunday. One player that was not affected by the rain at all on Saturday was Jay Yonamine '07, who shot the best round of the day, a 71.

"I have always enjoyed playing in the rain because it makes me get into a set routine of putting my glove away, wiping off my grip, taking my jacket off, and so on, so for me, the rain was great," admitted Yonamine. "In all honestly, the wind the second day made for harder conditions that the rain on the first day."

Yonamine finished the tournament tied for 30th among the 68 player field. Chad Bellmare '08 finished tied for 23rd overall with a two day total of 156.

"I am really proud of Mitch for his great play on both days," stated Yonamine. "His game has come a long way since last fall, and still has the potential to get much better. Also, Chad had a great comeback on Sunday after a rough round on Saturday, which is the true sign of competitor.

This wraps up the season for the men's golf team, and they hope to improve to the next level during the 2005-2006 season.

"Our goal for next year is to make the NCAA Tournament. Our showing at the Northeast District Shoot-Out proved that we can play with the best teams. I think that any of our guys have the potential to compete with the best players in New England," said St. Peter.

The women's golf team bounced back from a subpar weekend at Amherst to place second at the Northeast Championship hosted by Amherst College, behind Heather Gallagher's '08 second overall score of 79.

The Panthers placed behind Division I competitor, Harvard. Middlebury placed ahead of a number of Division I schools, and all the Division III schools competing.

"It was a great day for our program to beat our Division III compeiition. We have been close in the past couple of tournaments to beating our main competition such as Wellesley, Mount Holyoke and Amherst, but we had never sealed the deal," said Kerry Ortega '07 who placed 27th out of 65.

The tournament was scheduled to be a 36-holes, but bad weather on Friday and Saturday reduced it to 18-holes. Players, still played in less than ideal conditions on Saturday.

Karen Levin '08 placed 12th overall with a score of 88. Rookie Tori MacNeil came in 22nd, with a score of 90, while Allison Ortega rounded out the Panthers team with a score of 95, good for 36th overall.

The team finishes off the season at Williams next weekend.