Sun, sand and skin can't throw off women's golf in south Florida

For the second time this season, the women's golf team was second to none. At the Pat Bradley Championship in Miami, Fla. the women topped the 16-team field in posting a seven-stroke victory.

"Obviously, we go in with two objectives — one to play the best golf we can, and two, hopefully to win," senior Avery Kiser said. "We were happy to come away with the win this weekend."

The men's golf team, participating in the James Madison Invitational, placed third, its highest finish yet this season.

"It was definitely our strongest play of the year," sophomore John Sawin said.

Sawin, along with senior captain Creighton Page, finished tied for fifth place individually in the tournament.

On the women's side, Princeton dominated the first and final rounds en route to conquering the field of mostly southern schools.

"It was tough because we were in against good competition, schools that we haven't seen, but who play against each other all the time," Kiser said. "We came down to shake things up a bit."

Kiser again led the Tigers with an individual second-place finish. Kiser led the field during the first two rounds with consecutive scores of 71, but was passed by Miami's Tina Miller, who shot a tournament-low 68 in the final round to beat Kiser by four strokes.

"I played two great rounds of golf, and the third was not as great at I hoped it would be, but I was able to help the team and that's what is most important," Kiser said.

Sophomore Sharla Cloutier took fourth place, just seven strokes behind her teammate, and freshman Annika Welander was 14th for Princeton.

"This weekend our young girls, especially Annika and Sharla, both played great golf," Kiser said. "It's a testament to the depth of the team. Ever since I've been here we've been working so that we have five solid girls we can count on, and we finally have that."

Princeton will compete in one more tournament this fall, then put away the clubs until spring, when the Tigers will look to defend their Ivy League title.

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"Our ultimate goal is always to win Ivies," Kiser said.

On the men's side the Tigers came out strong in the first round, shooting 281, only one stroke behind the leaders. Sawin aided this effort with a phenomenal 66 in his first round of play. It was a breakout tournament for Sawin, as well as fellow sophomore Brent Herlihy. Herlihy placed 10th, to give the Tigers three men under par, something they had not yet been able to do this season.

"In our last tournament at Elon, we had a strong final round, and that boosted our confidence," Sawin said. "This weekend we played with a confidence we haven't had before."

That confidence allowed the Tigers, who were third after the second round, to maintain their position Sunday, and finish only nine strokes behind first-place Towson and four strokes behind second-place Rutgers.

Juniors Jason Gerken and John Locke were also steady contributors for Princeton, placing 36th and 58th, respectively.

In the final two tournaments this season the Tigers will face strong fields at the Big 5 Classic and the Georgetown Invitational. To make the NCAA tournament in the spring the Tigers must either win the Ivy League or be ranked in the top four in their district.

"Hopefully, we'll continue our momentum, Sawin said. "Strong finishes will help our district ranking."