Princeton women heat up while men start slow

It was a tale of two teams this spring break, as the men and women's golf squads were both in action but finished with very different results. The women finished fourth at the 14-team South Florida Invitational and then finished in a close second at the Cincinnati Spring Invitational. The men, on the other hand, finished last in the 17-team Ron Moore Invitational.

While its male counterparts were struggling, the women's team was busy participating in two tournaments in sunny Florida. Its first tournament was the three-round South Florida Invitational at the par-72 Waterlefe Gold and River Club in Bradenton, Fla. This was followed by the two-round Cincinnati Spring Invite at the par-72 Plantation Inn Gold Course in Crystal River, Fla.

"Waterlefe, the first course we played, was really tough," senior Sharla Cloutier said. "The combination of hazards on practically every hole and a constant two-club wind made for tough scoring conditions. This challenge was good for us, though, since it made Plantation, the course we played at the end of the week, seem a lot easier."

Behind top-10 finishes from Cloutier and sophomore Susannah Aboff, the team finished fourth at the South Florida Invitational, only 12 shots behind victorious Maryland. Coastal Carolina University took second place, followed by host USF in third. It was a tight match between these three teams, only separated by three strokes.

The Tigers improved their results in their next tournament at Crystal River. They finished second to Florida Atlantic University, which managed to surge ahead of Princeton in the final round. After the first round, the Tigers were one shot off the lead of eventual third-place finisher Middle Tennessee State, while Florida Atlantic was two shots back.

Cloutier turned in another stellar performance at this tournament, tying for fourth place individually. She managed to remain in the 70s in all five of her rounds during the two tournaments.

"The keys to last week and the rest of the season are to play one shot at a time and stay positive on the golf course," Cloutier said.

It wasn't so easy for the defending Ivy League champion Tiger men to stay positive after heading to Arizona to compete in their first tournament of the spring. Hoping to shake off any rust and gear up for their next tournaments in the northeast, the Tigers struggled mightily.

At a tournament co-hosted by the Universtiy of Denver and Iowa State, the par-72 course at the Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Ariz., proved to be quite difficult for the Tigers. Princeton finished at 40 over par, worst among all competing teams and right behind 16th place Wyoming at plus-37. There were nine teams with over-par scores and eight that finished under par for the tournament.

Senior John Sawin and freshman Juan Pablo Candela led the Tigers, each turning in two-over tournament scores to finish tied for 38th place. Freshman Jake Skinner ended 83rd, sophomore Drew Maliniak was 93rd, and senior Brent Herlihy finished 100th. Candela and freshman Gregory Stamas — who competed in the tournament individually along with sophomore Max Schechter — also had two eagles apiece in the tournament.

Schechter finished tied for 62nd in the field, while Stamas tied for 84th.

Wichita State dominated the competition, winning the invitational at minus-33 while second-place Nebraska finished 17 strokes behind at minus-16. Kansas State and Denver tied for third place at 14 under par, while Utah finished fifth with a total score of minus-11.

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Wichita State set the tone for the tournament on the first day as its top two players, Cameron Bishop and Ryan Spears, shot 65 and 64, respectively. Spears' eight-under 64 was the best round in the tournament.

The men will look to rebound next weekend at the Lacrosse Homes Collegiate tournament, hosted by Towson. The women's team heads to Leesburg, Va., on Sunday for the Hoya Invitational.