Aboff bests field at Hoya Women's Invitational

The women's golf team dominated the competition this weekend at the Hoya Women's Invitational, while the men turned in a respectable performance at the Lacrosse Homes Collegiate Invitational, finishing 10th out of 21 teams.

The women headed south to play in a tournament hosted by Georgetown at the Rasberry Falls Golf Club in Leesburg, Va. The Tigers had an impressive showing, finishing first out of 13 teams, including some Ivy League rivals.

Princeton won easily by 13 shots over second-place Yale, as sophomore Susannah Aboff took the individual crown. The team finished just 28 strokes over par, ahead of a field that included Yale, Nova Southeastern, Georgetown, Columbia and Penn.

After a first round of 77, Aboff improved to turn in a one-over 73 on the final day of the two-day tournament for a winning score of plus-6. Senior Sharla Cloutier was just two shots behind at plus-8, freshman Michelle Grilli shot plus-9, sophomore Marlowe Boukis was plus-10 and junior Annika Welander was plus-11.

Welander led the field after one day of competition, turning a one-over round of 73 to lead four Tigers in the top ten of the leader board after Round 1. Welander shot a disappointing 82 on the second day of competition to fall into a tie for 10th place.

Beating teams like Yale, Columbia and Penn as easily as they did bodes well for the upcoming Ivy League Championship, a two-day tournament starting on Saturday, April 21.

While the men were not as successful, they still finished in the top half of the 21-team tournament, hosted by Towson University and played at the Prospect Bay Golf Club in Grasonville, Md. Princeton finished at plus-30 for the tournament while the winners, St. John's, finished at plus-four. Though the Orange and Black had a pretty rough first day, it rebounded to finish 8-strokes lower as a team on the second day.

Senior captain John Sawin finished sixth overall at even par. He shot plus-2 on Saturday and had an impressive 2-under round Sunday.

"I personally felt my game was in great shape. I am not striking the ball as well as I was earlier in the year or as well as I would like, but I am managing my game well and getting the most out of my rounds," Sawin, who is also a staff writer for The Daily Princetonian, said. "With a strong short game in place, I am confident that gradually improving ball-striking will lead to lower scores."

Freshman Juan Pablo Candela tied for 30th at plus-7 after rounds of 78 and 73. Sophomore Max Schechter finished plus-10, fellow sophomore Drew Maliniak was plus-13 and rookie Jake Skinner finished 19 strokes over par.

"As a team, we are making progress, but we still have a ways to go if we are to defend our league championship," Sawin added. "We lost to all three other Ivy schools there, which hurts a lot. Hopefully this will serve as extra motivation as we continue to prepare."

The Red Storm won the tournament eight strokes over Longwood University, and Princeton also fell to Ivy League foes Yale, Columbia and Cornell. There is obviously some work cut out for the Tigers before the Princeton Invitational in two weeks and the Ivy League Championship the following weekend.

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"We are definitely not yet prepared for Ivies. We have this weekend off, so the guys will have plenty of time to work on the weaknesses in their games," Sawin said. "We also have our home invitational the weekend before Ivies, which should hopefully give us some confidence heading into the tournament."