Women's golf flounders in The Orchards

Author: Jake Cohen

The women's golf team traveled south this past weekend to compete in the Mount Holyoke Invitational at The Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley, Mass. The Panthers finished in a disappointing 12th place out of 15 teams from all three of the NCAA divisions. Much to the dismay of the Middlebury golfers, the course seemed to be a bit too difficult for the lower scores needed for victory - after all, it is where the Women's U.S. Open was held only three years ago.

Boston University captured the title by three strokes, followed by a two-way tie for second place between the University of Hartford and the College of the Holy Cross. Fellow NESCAC rivals Williams and Amherst rounded out the top five.

First-year Courtney Mazzei dominated the Panther pack with a two-day total of 163, 12 strokes ahead of her closest teammate. Senior captain Karen Levin shot a two-day total of 175 and first-year Jessica Bluestein followed with 179.

There were some phenomenal highlights from the Panthers this weekend, despite the seemingly high scores, . In particular, Mazzei shot an impressive 77 on the first day, which was good enough to put her in a tie for second place overall. But something got to her on Sunday. Instead of a repeat performance, which would have given her the best score of the day and first place in the tournament, she shot an 86 - just enough strokes over par, 14, to drop her to eighth place overall.

Mazzei's first round 77 is even more impressive, when you consider it would have beaten 27 first-round U.S. Open scores when the major was hosted on the same course.

But in the face of disappointment and frustration, Levin remained optimistic about what the future holds for both her and her surrounding teammates.

"I think each tournament is a learning experience," said Levin. "We are a very young team and as we gain experience we will hopefully begin to shoot what we are capable of."

The Panthers saw glimpses of potential with Mazzei's five-over-par performance on Saturday this past weekend and Bluestein's third place finish at the Middlebury Invitational only seven days before.

"As a team, we have hit a lot of good shots and played a lot of good holes," said Mazzei. "But we have never managed to string it together. Our coach, George [Phinney], is helping us a lot and we are continuing to progress with every competitive opportunity."

The team is looking forward to their upcoming weekend off. The Panthers will have the chance to recuperate and work on their games over the next few weeks in preparation for the NESCAC tournament, to be played at Taconic Golf Course in Williamstown, Mass.