Panthers in Focus is a column that uses student photography to give a better depiction of the triumphs of Middlebury’s athletes.
This past weekend, the women’s golf team came in fourth place in the George Phinney Classic. The 11-team tournament is one of the few opportunities the Middlebury women’s golf team has to compete on their home course.
Overall, the team put up a score of 630 points, bested by totals put up by Wellesley College, Williams College and New York University. Morgan Lee ’26 led the way for the Panthers putting up a two-day score of 153, tying her for sixth place overall at the tournament.
The rest of the team shot well to ensure the team’s placement in the top half of the teams. Captains Audrey Tir ’25 and Mia Politano ’25 kicked off a good start to their senior seasons with solid days at their home course. Tir tied 9th place overall while Politano scored in the top half of competitors in her last home tournament.
“It's been my home course for seven years, honestly, since I grew up in the area, so for that to kind of be my last tournament, at home, my last competitive one at least at home, it was definitely pretty sentimental at the end,” Politano said.
Last season, Lee and Tir made the all-NESCAC first team, and the top ten performances from both of them today shows a continuation of the duo’s dominance. The team also saw impressive performances from some of their younger golfers. Ella Han ’27 and Lemona Xu ’28 golfed for Middlebury’s “B-Team” at the tournament and had performances they can build off of, placing 21st and 25th overall respectively.
The tournament was a continuation of the team’s solid performance so far this season. At the Polar Bear Shootout hosted by Bowdoin College, the team came in fifth place of the 13 teams competing. Tir placed third in the tournament overall while Lee came in a tie for 12th place.
“We got off to a really strong start, and we have a great group of girls that are coming back. So we're just very excited for the season,” Politano said.
The women’s golf team is set to continue the fall portion of their schedule this weekend as they travel to Williamstown, Mass. this weekend to compete in the Williams Invitational.
Jack McGuire (he/him) is a Senior Sports Editor.
Jack previously served as a Sports Editor and as a Staff Writer. He also spent this past summer working as a News Reporting Intern for Seven Days.
Jack is also majoring in economics with minors in political science and film and media culture.
