Kiser makes a name for herself playing in W. Amateur

Junior Avery Kiser, a member of the women's golf team, has hardly felt the pangs of defeat in her time at Princeton. In her two seasons of collegiate golf, she has won two individual Ivy League championships, two Eastern College Athletic Conference championships, and a host of other tournaments. She is hands-down the Ivy League's best player.

But the Ivy League champ ventured from familiar waters this August to play in the most competitive women's amateur tournament in the world — the U.S. Women's Amateur, hosted by Philadelphia Country Club.

Her performance would have made any Princetonian proud. After posting rounds of 72-74, Kiser finished the championship's stroke play portion in 15th-place, though lost in the first round of match play to Hsiao-Ching Lu, who herself would lose in the second round.

For Kiser, traveling across the country from her home in Southern California to Philadelphia was not a washout, even lacking the trophy.

"Being able to keep up with the girls that I was in the company of, and shooting better rounds than many of them, puts a smile on my face," Kiser said.

Kiser, who hails from Southern California, took medallist honors at the 2002 Ivy League championship with ease, posting a three-round score of 226. The second-place finisher, Sarah Seo of Yale, finished ten strokes worse, at 236.

In 2003, Kiser won medalist honors by a slimmer but still comfortable three-stroke margin. She won two other tournaments — the Georgetown Invitational and the Bonnie Hoover Golf Invitational — in the spring as well.

But golf outside the Ivy League is a different game. For starters, the course on which the championship was played, Philadelphia Country Club (which hosted a U.S. Open in 1939) is set up differently than any course which Ivy Leaguers play on in their fall and spring schedules.

"It was a lot tougher," Kiser said. "The length and hole locations were significantly tougher. It really tested the golfers; you had to have every aspect of the golf game."

Naturally, the field is a lot stronger. Many of the 156 players in the field will make a name for themselves on the professional tour sometime soon.

What didn't help the situation was the rain which wreaked havoc on championship play and drenched the course during its opening stroke play rounds. The 6,386-yard golf course played significantly longer with its soaked fairways, though greens were less firm and thus easier to hold.

"With all the rain it kind of came down to who could play the water the best," Kiser said.

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Kiser's first round score of 1-over 72 put her in ninth place after the first day of competition. Of the field of 156 players, only the top-64 make match play, so Kiser knew that a low score on the second day would guarantee her a good seed for the more important match play rounds.

"If I shot another 72 I knew I would make match play," she said. "And then the rain came."

The two-day downpour gave certain players (like Kiser) an advantage. Some of the field was able to finish 18 holes in a single day, while others were forced to sit around the clubhouse for two, even three days, waiting for a break in the precipitation.

In her second round of play, Kiser posted an opening nine of 2-under 33, putting her at the top of the field. But a disappointing 6-over 41 over the last nine destroyed her chances of winning the prestigious medallist honors.

"It was an ugly round, inconsistent to say the least," Kiser recalled. "I think I got ahead of myself. I was looking ahead to an 18 hole score; you have to play golf one hole at a time."

In the first round of match play, Kiser found herself 1 up after nine holes, but lost momentum and her golf swing as Lu, from Chinese Taipei, won three consecutive holes on the back nine to take the match, 2 and 1. The Thai-born Virada Nirapathpongporn, who plays on the Duke women's golf team, ultimately won the championship.

What does the Ivy League's best learn from losing in the first round?

"It reminds you of how competitive women's golf is becoming," she said. "It used to be that a four handicap was a really good place to be, and now you have to be a scratch golfer and better.

"I've seen the best competition in the world now. I'm not intimidated by anybody."