Tigers overcome weather

This past weekend, the men's and women's golf teams faced not only tough opponents, but also 40 mile-per-hour winds and 30-degree temperatures.

Nonetheless, the women's team took second at the Hoya Women's Invitational at the Raspberry Falls Golf Course, only 13 strokes behind first-place Yale. The tournament had to be shortened to one day because of rain on Saturday.

The Tigers shot a team score of 335 beating out Georgetown and Penn by six and nine shots, respectively. Senior co-captains Avery Kiser and Meg Nakamura tied for ninth place at the tournament, shooting 83. Nakamura shot an 80 in the second round that pushed Princeton ahead from a four-way tie for second place.

"Our tournament was a whirlwind to say the least, and [Sunday's] conditions were perhaps some of the worst you can encounter in golf," Kiser said. "Our round on Saturday was cancelled due to the rain, and today it was around 35 degrees with the wind chill and winds were around 40 mph, not to mention the course was very wet from Saturday's rains. It basically became a game of survival."

Sophomore Sharla Cloutier, who tied freshman Annika Welander for 16th with an 86, also stressed the wretched conditions.

"All I can say is that [Sunday] was definitely the most difficult round of golf I've ever had to play," Cloutier said. "Scrambling around the course was all you could do."

The team looks to improve in the upcoming weeks to gain an edge on the Bulldogs.

"Everyone is out there playing in the same conditions, so you have to be willing and able to beat them in the mind game since the physical one is likely getting the best of everyone," Kiser said.

Cloutier agreed, saying, "Of course losing to Yale was more than a bit disappointing, but you can bet that we're going to spend these next two weeks practicing till our fingers bleed in order to get ready for the Ivy League Championships."

Men place fourth

Though facing similar tumultuous weather conditions, the men's golf team was able to play out both rounds at the Drew Upton Classic. They took fourth place at the 19-team tournament hosted by Towson University in Westover, Md. Princeton shot a team score of 305 on the first round and a 304 on the second round — 14 strokes behind the winning Loyola team.

Sophomore Brent Herlihy took third place with rounds of 73 and 65 on a par 72 course, four strokes behind the first-place finisher.

"It was the kind of day you need to grind it out to make par," Herlihy said.

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Adding support were junior Jason Gerken, who shot a two-round 150 (78-72) to tie for 10th , and sophomore John Sawin, who took 19th place with a two-round 152 (74-78).

"It was almost comical how windy it was. By the end of the day, three umbrellas had blown into the pond," Sawin said.

Sawin said that he personally looked to work on choosing the right club and on his control of the irons, especially in high wind conditions. The men's team will meet this week to reflect on the tournament and find out what to work on in the upcoming practices.

Next weekend, the women's team will tee off at James Madison, and the men's team will have home-course advantage at the Princeton Invitational.