Welander tops all at Yale

On a day that saw Tiger Woods win his sixth tournament in a row, the increasingly dominant women's golf team continued a winning streak of its own.

This weekend Princeton was in action at Yale's golf course for the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Conn. The No. 8 Tigers took their lofty national ranking on the road and came away with yet another team and individual title, their second in as many weeks.

Princeton's strength came yet again from junior Annika Welander, who won her second straight individual title, continuing the success she had at last week's Princeton Invitational. The titles are the first two of her collegiate career.

Welander's strong play has bolstered the Tigers' incredibly deep roster, helping the team come from behind in the final round on Sunday to seal a two-stroke victory over the Harvard Crimson.

"We were really happy to pull this victory off," Welander said. "But we want to keep up our strong play in the weeks ahead."

This was also the second win in as many weeks for new Princeton head coach Amy Bond. The rookie coach had quite a coaching job to do this weekend, as the team played through some very tough conditions.

"We really played three different courses this weekend," Welander said. "During our practice round it was terribly windy, and the course played very tough, but on Saturday they changed the tee boxes and the wind quieted down. However, on Sunday they pushed up the tee boxes due to rain, which lasted through the entire final round."

Final day comeback

The different condition of the course didn't phase the Tigers, however, as they roared to victory with a strong final round after starting the day three shots behind. Welander fired an even par 70 on Sunday to win the Individual Championship, while freshman Michelle Grilli shot 71 in the final round to take second place. Senior Sharla Cloutier tied for seventh, and sophomore Marlowe Boukis tied for tenth.

The Tiger lineup is incredibly deep this year with every player from last year's squad returning in addition to Grilli's solid play. After such strong performances over the last two weeks, Princeton truly has earned its eighth place national ranking from Golf Week.

All in all, it was a good weekend for Princeton women's golf, which took home two more trophies to add to its growing collection.

"It was awesome that the team was able to keep the momentum from last weekend going, especially on a difficult course like Yale and in rainy conditions," senior co-captain Alexis Etow said. "I can't wait for next weekend."

The team will look to continue this Tiger Woods-esque winning streak next weekend at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships in Williamsburg, Va., a tournament that will boast a very strong field of competitors.