Junior captain Avery Kiser is facing some tough competition this year. While no school in the Ivy League has previously been able to produce a player to challenge Kiser's dominance on the links, it seems that this year she may have met her match.
Which school has provided such a dominating player? Princeton. For the first time in three years, someone other than Kiser produced the Tigers' lowest score in a tournament. That someone is freshman Sharla Cloutier. With rounds of 74-77, Cloutier led the Tigers and the rest of the field, winning this weekend's Princeton Invitational at Springdale Golf Course.
The Tigers left Sunday's rainsoaked finish 19 strokes better than their closest competitor, Yale. From the outset it was clear that Princeton had little to worry about in the field of 16 teams, which included Ivy League foes Yale, Brown, and Penn, who came in second, fourth and seventh, respectively.
The Tigers, who were leading by 22 strokes at the end of play Saturday, saw their scores, and the rest of the field's, balloon during Sunday's final round thanks to the deluge that struck Princeton and suspended play. The rain left the course partially underwater, which affected play remarkably — shots from the rough were chunked and one could not count on any roll in the fairways or the greens.
"You really have to be pleased after winning at home which we haven't done in two years," head coach Eric Stein said. "Numbers went up Sunday but we learned to play in those conditions."
While Cloutier and Kiser led the field, Stein praised junior Taryn Haladay, who stepped up for senior Esty Dwek who could not compete due to the Jewish holidays.
"Taryn stepped in with a 76 on the first day which was really key to putting together a 300 and our huge lead," Stein said.
The tournament nearly saw a Tiger versus Tiger playoff as Kiser was left with a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to tie Cloutier and force a playoff. The shot was not to be and Kiser would finish the day with rounds of 72-80 to finish second in the field and leave Cloutier with her first collegiate win.
"I'm very excited and I'm glad I could do it on my home course, but I'm more glad the team won because that's more important than any individual victory," Cloutier said of her victory.
The Tigers placed four of their golfers in the top 15 at Springdale with juniors Meg Nakamura and Taryn Haladay tied for 13th after both posting 160 finishes. In a tournament that was extremely competitive, the difference between 13th and 46th was only nine strokes, leaving freshman Alexis Etow tied for 46th with a 169.
The men's golf team played in its second-straight tournament in two weeks this weekend, garnering a fifth-place finish at the McLaughlin Invitational at the famed Bethpage Red course. Finishing 20 strokes behind first-place Maryland, the Tigers were without recent leading scorer Jason Gerken.
Princeton is in one of the most competitive conferences in the NCAA. While perennially competitive in the Ivy League, against top national competitors like Penn State, Maryland, Georgetown and James Madison, the Tigers have been unable to put together a win.

"It seems like other schools in our region have guys who are shooting really low 60's," head coach Will Green said. "We simply don't have those one or two low scorers."
While Gerken has been able to provide significant help to the Tigers in the past, he chose to sit out this weekend's tournament due to academic conflicts.
"The other teams in our district have gotten a lot better, so it's tough for us to stay ahead of them," junior Creighton Page said.
Page led the Tigers with a final round 71 this weekend. Still, even he was unable to climb into the top 10, finishing 13th. Page was followed by freshman Brent Herlihy, who shot a final-round 77 to finish 24th. The Tiger leader board was dominated by freshmen, with John Sawin finishing 26th. Senior captain Greg Johnson rounded out the Tiger finishers with a 34th-place finish.
The Tigers' next tournament will be at the famed Glenmaura Golf Club in Scranton, Pa., where they will compete next weekend in the Temple Owl Invitational.