After flawless start to season, w. golf stumbles at Penn State

"We finally met our match," junior Avery Kiser said of the women's golf team's fifth-place finish at the Penn State Invitational this weekend. Despite climbing up one notch from Saturday's sixth-place standing, Princeton finished 42 strokes back from first-place James Madison, ending its unbeaten streak for the fall season.

Junior Meg Nakamura led the Tigers both days to finish tied for ninth. She finished the last round with a solid three-over-par 75, ending the tournament 11-over-par. This weekend marked the second week in a row where Nakamura led Princeton. Unfortunately, she was the only Tiger to place in the top 10.

"I came pretty close to playing well," Nakamura said. "Still, it was a good confidence booster as we killed Yale, the only other Ivy League opponent there."

Princeton's struggle this weekend was not entirely unexpected, as the Tigers competed against some of the most dominant programs in the region — James Madison, Penn State and Maryland. These schools finished the tournament in first, second and fourth places, respectively. Despite the Tigers' victory over third-place Rollins College last week at the Yale Invitational, that team was able to rocket past Princeton this weekend with three top-five finishes. James Madison, who defeated perennial powerhouse Penn State, was spurred on by medalist Carol Green's amazing play, which left her 10 strokes ahead of her closest competition.

The Tigers beat Yale, the tournament's only other Ivy League competitor, by 15 strokes.

For Princeton, the format of the tournament also created problems. The golfers played a grueling schedule, having to complete 36 holes on Saturday and 18 more on Sunday. While the upperclassmen have dealt with such a setup previously in Ivy League competition, the 54-hole format marked a decidedly new experience for the freshmen.

"It's hard to get anyone who can play nine hours of golf straight," Kiser said. "At a point, it just becomes of a battle of stamina."

Kiser, who has led the Tigers and the Ivy League over the last two seasons, as well as this fall, seems to have hit a bit of a slump. Struggling with her short game for the second week in a row, she posted a score above 80 for the first time in recent memory. Finishing tied for 15th, Kiser began to get her game under control in the last round, climbing nine spots to post a one-over 73 — the second lowest score for the round.

Freshman Sharla Cloutier and junior Taryn Haladay would complete Princeton's scoring group, finishing 26th and 44th, respectively. Haladay has emerged this year as an important key to the Tigers' success, providing the much-needed competitive fourth score that has eluded a team which has relied almost solely on perfection from the top in the past.

Cloutier, whose second tournament at Princeton produced a medalist victory, argues that she has felt a bit burned out as of late. Struggling throughout the round with her irons, she spent much of her day dealing with extremely long putts caused by inaccurate iron shots. A string of three putts left Cloutier with a 77-78-80 finish.

"It was a rough weekend," Cloutier said. "I think I've just been playing too much golf."

Cloutier and the entire team will be happy for the next two weekends off from competition. Many of her teammates echoed the sentiment that as midterms and other academic pressures mount, it has proven difficult to focus on the game of golf.