W. golf grabs fourth in Jacksonville tournament

The Eastern College Athletic Conference championship ended the fall season of the women's golf team on a disappointing note, with losses to several teams — worst of all to Ivy rival Yale. But the ECAC title was not the only thing missing when Princeton travelled to Jacksonville, Fla., to face the Elis again in the spring season opener: Team leaders junior Julia Allison and junior Adrienne Gill were absent as well, and Allison will not play for the rest of the year.

And so, like Spanish explorers of old who sought the fountain of youth, the Tigers travelled to Florida to try to win back something of what time had taken away — to top the Elis even without two of their experienced leaders.

But unlike those old explorers, Princeton found what it was looking for.

At the North-South Women's Collegiate Tournament in Jacksonville, Princeton finished fourth with a score of 320-320—640 — one stroke ahead of Yale, which accumulated the surplus on the second day.

Above the two Ivies were Murray State, Tennessee Tech and Bethune-Cookman, which brought in scores of 314-306—620, 311-313—624 and 312-313—625, respectively.

But the Tigers did not come with a full lineup, with Gill and Allison not on the trip. The Elis, on the other hand, brought their full register of golfers.

"We weren't really sure how our [new] lineup was going to affect [the results]," senior captain Meagan Smith said. "It's a big switch in who's leading the team scorewise. [But] without our old number one we can still compete."

And the Tigers did more than compete. Smith shot herself into 13th place with a score of 84-74—158 and brought in the low round for the second day.

The first day, however, was taken by freshman Vanessa Redman, who finished the 18 holes with 73 shots — lower than anyone else in the whole tournament was able to shoot either day. Redman went on to place fourth in the tournament, shooting 73-81—154.

Redman started off strong in the practice round when she landed the ball near the third hole and putted it in for a birdie. This became her favorite hole, especially after she birdied there on the second and third days as well. She did all of this while using a new swing she picked up only a couple months ago.

Without Allison, the Tigers will need to come together and shoot low consistently as a team to stay on top. But Princeton is prepared as intense intrateam competition has been keeping the Tigers sharp since the fall season. This kind of competition has evidently paid off for the team. Princeton's top five golfers are all scoring in the low 80s.

"[We have to] step in to fill in spaces," Smith said.

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Junior Natalie Christensen — Princeton's No. 3 — scored 80 the first day and 81 the second for a total of 161. Her low score on the first day placed her second for Princeton, and kept Smith on her toes, spurring the captain on to drop 10 shots from her first day total.

Another notable was freshman Megan Milam, who scored 83-84—167 even though she had never before been on the travelling team.

Milam capped off the top four, and helped to bring the score to a low 640.

Though Jacksonville's course was not especially difficult, it was similar to many of the courses Princeton will be playing on the rest of the season. The number of trees and gentle rolls created a familiar environment for the Tigers.

"It was a nice course to start off on because it wasn't the hardest course," Smith said. "It was very forgiving."

Even with a new team and an altered lineup, Princeton found youth despite handicaps, and left Yale wondering how it will keep itself from being outpaced in the struggle for the Ivy League crown.