It was a gruesome day for golf and a beautiful day for a golf team.
Members of the women's golf team looked out their windows in Gadsden, Ala., March 20 and saw water everywhere. The day before, the Tigers had played their way into first place in the Jackson State Invitational and were expecting to defend their six-stroke lead on the second day. But the rainstorm made the course unplayable on the second day, so Princeton was declared the champion.
The Tigers compiled a score of 332, with tournament host Jackson State coming in second at 338. The tournament was the first of the spring for Princeton. In fact, with the still wintry conditions in Princeton, some of the Tigers had not played more than nine holes in any round leading up to the tournament. For most, the only practice possible was indoor swing practice at Dillon Gym.
Some players showed fewer signs of rust than others, however. Freshman Esty Dweck fired a round of 76, good enough to earn her the individual championship. Sophomore Vanessa Redman notched a 79 to finish third, giving the Tigers a powerful pair of low scores from underclassmen.
Redman and Dweck's scores counterbalanced disappointing performances by the remaining three Tigers. Though the rain and cold would intensify to cancel the second day of competition, the bad conditions had already arrived in lesser form on the first day. Lack of practice, a sloppy course, and frigid wind drove senior Julia Allison's score up to 86, senior Natalie Christensen's to 90 and sophomore Megan Milam's to 91.
Though the rain made Princeton premature champions and the team's performance was far from stellar, its victory was no great injustice, for the remaining teams lagged far behind. Other than Jackson State, no team was within 10 strokes of Princeton after the first round.
"We were not practiced," Milam said. "But the competition wasn't as strong as it normally is."
Stronger competition will soon come, however, and the Tigers began preparing for it in earnest immediately after the tournament. As soon as the cancellation of the second round was announced, the Tigers boarded a van to Florida, where they spent the remainder of their break in heavy training.
"We were mostly happy [that the second round was cancelled] because we had a six-hour bus ride ahead of us that night," Milam said.
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