Led by Kiser, w. golf places fourth at JMU

The story of women's golf here at Princeton this season has been the story of sophomore Avery Kiser. Last weekend was certainly no different, as Kiser took first-place individual honors and led the Tigers to a fourth-place team finish at the James Madison University/Bonnie Hoover Invitational in Harrisonburg, Va.

The tournament, played at the Lakeview Golf Course, consisted of a field of 17 teams which included the likes of Georgetown, Rutgers, William & Mary, and Ivy League rival Yale. The Tigers played 36 holes on Saturday with a shotgun start and 18 holes on Sunday on the par-72, 6,046-yard course.

Kiser magic

Shooting a three-round total of 224, Kiser was not able to singlehandedly secure a first place team victory for the Tigers. Host JMU took that honor with a tournament total of 935, which was 21 strokes ahead of Princeton. The Duke Dogs were followed by second-place Maryland and third-place Ohio.

Still, Kiser's three-round total of eight over par (75-71-78) was good enough to garner her medalist honors.

Kiser shot the tournament low with her second round total of 71, one under par. Head coach Eric Stein described her play as "gutsy" and it certainly was.

In the last round, with medalist honors by no means decided, Kiser rallied to make a 12-foot par putt on the 17th and was tied for first place heading into the final hole. With JMU's Jessica Lewis still in contention on the last hole, Kiser hit the par-five green in two shots, only to barely miss an eagle. Still, she tapped in for the birdie, avoiding a playoff and beating Lewis on her home course by one stroke.

As Kiser has led Princeton through all nine of this year's tournaments, her finish this weekend was no surprise. Her consistent play has placed her in contention for top ranking during each of Princeton's tournaments. Many of Kiser's teammates have struggled to match her performances, however. This was evident in the tournament.

The rest of the Tiger squad finished at least 20 strokes behind Kiser, with no other Princeton golfer breaking the top 25. Sophomore Meg Nakamura posted a two-day total of 244, landing her in 28th place. Sophomore Taryn Haladay tied for 31st with a 246 and senior captain Vanessa Redman tied for 35th with a 247. Junior Esty Dwek would round out the Princeton top five, scoring a 254.

The high combined scores are deceiving, pointing not to a lack of ability but instead to a lack of consistency, attributable to the recent poor weather which has kept the team off the course. With Tiger players varying as much as 12 strokes from round to round, as in the case of Dwek's 90-78-86 performance, victories will continue to elude them.

"While it was nice to see Esty Dwek's 78 in round two and Taryn Haladay's 79 in round three, we are going to have to be much more consistent if we are to win Ivies in a couple of weeks," Stein said.

The most important test of the season comes April 26-27 at the Ivy League Championships at Ridge-wood Country Club in Ridgewood, N.J.

With the weather finally cooperating, the Tigers will assuredly be spending this upcoming idle weekend at Springdale Golf Club, practicing for what will no doubt be one of the most contested Ivy titles this year.