Birdies lead golf to victory

Not only did the Tigers win the team title, but junior Susannah Aboff beat out Rollins College’s Joanna Coe by two strokes, winning her second-straight individual title. Aboff turned in rounds of 75, 74 and an even-par 72 on the final day to finish plus five on the tournament and defend her Hoya Invitational title from last season.

“Susannah played well throughout the tournament from tee to green,” head coach Amy Bond said. “Her putting was especially good, and this has really helped her to stay right around par in the last few events.”

The Tigers were not leading for the entire tournament, however. After the first two rounds of the tournament, the Orange and Black found itself in third place behind Yale and Rollins, still with some work to do.

Then the golfers really stepped up their game. Not only did Aboff play her best during the third and final round, but so did freshman Maggie Boberg, who was just three over par on the day. Sophomore Michelle Grilli and freshman Kate Scarpetta both turned in very good rounds of 77. Junior Marlowe Boukis had a solid round of 81 to complete the five-woman team.

“We improved our score each day,” Grilli said. “It shows we learned how to play the golf course, and that is great when it comes to pulling through in the final round.”

One of the best stories of the tournament for the Tigers was the way in which Boberg really turned it around. She carded a 79 her first round and went up four strokes to an 83 in her second round. The team really needed her in the final round, and she came through.

“[Freshman] Maggie Boberg really stepped up to the plate for us,” Scarpetta said of her teammate’s performance.

Behind Aboff, the scorers for the Tigers were Grilli, who took sixth place at plus 12, Scarpetta in 16th at plus 19, Boberg tied for 19th at 21 over par and Boukis tied for 28th at plus 27.

“Our team definitely became more comfortable with the course and conditions by the third day of the tournament,” Bond said. “We were more consistent as the weather conditions cleared up. Also, it clearly helped that we had by far the most birdies of all the teams in the event.”

Princeton was in a tight race with Rollins but managed to edge the Tars out by three strokes in the end. Yale finished in third, nine strokes off the leaders. Nova Southeastern, Georgetown, Columbia, St. John’s, Boston College, Penn, Lehigh, Siena, Rutgers, Sacred Heart and Wagner completed the 14-team field. It is also notable that the Tigers were easy winners over the three other Ivy League teams in the tournament.

Princeton has improved in each outing this season. The team started off playing tough competition at the Mo Morial in Bryan, Texas, finishing 10th of 15 teams. The Tigers improved greatly in the Shamrock Intercollegiate, finishing second out of 14 teams. And with this tournament, they finally got over the hump and won. It looks like the team is on the upswing.

Princeton has one more tournament before the Ivy League Championships. The team will travel to Mamaroneck, N.Y., from April 10-12 to participate in the Roar-EE Invitational hosted by Columbia.