Warm Weather Propels Crimson to Second Place

It was a strong opening to the spring season for the women’s golf team, which finished second out of twenty-one teams in the Jekyll Island Tournament March 24-26.

With decent Georgia weather, the team was able to steal three top ten finishes, with five golfers finishing in the top 25.

“It was a little overcast the first two days, other than that it was a lot warmer,” senior captain Jennifer Cronan said. “That’s the reason we went to Georgia, in search of better weather. It makes it a lot easier if you’re playing in warm weather; it’s a lot easier to swing if your muscles aren’t cold.”

Freshman Ali Bode was the top finisher for the squad, with a fourth place individual finish.

She shot a 77, 80, and 83 for a total of 240 for the weekend, landing her ten shots behind the two tournament winners.

“The freshmen have been great this season, especially starting off this spring trip,” Rooney said. “A lot of times when you take time off playing can be a little erratic at first, but our freshmen have gotten into it completely and have been good about team competition. They are playing great.”

Next was sophomore Jessica Hazlett in sixth, followed by freshman Emily Balmert in ninth.

The two shot 244 (82-83-79) and 246 (84-82-80), respectively.

Cronan finished 11th for the Crimson, just one shot behind Balmert, with a 247 (84-82-81), and sophomore Debbi Amanti rounded out the top 25, tied with four other golfers shooting 256 (83-89-84) for the weekend.

“I think it shows the growing depth in the team,” Cronan said. “In past years we had two or three strong players, the last spots were not as solid. Now we have five slots where everyone’s really competitive and contributing. Even deep into the team we have stronger players than ever before.”

Rooney and junior Erin Wilson had the highest spots with 41st and 51st place finishes.

The second place score allows the Crimson to continue the strong play with which it finished off the fall season.

With a score of 977, the team finished just ten shots back of the tournament winner, Berry College, which finished with a 967 score.

“It was nice to see that we weren’t as rocky as we thought we might be after time off,” Rooney said. “Everyone was patient with themselves, and took one shot at a time. It was nice to see we’re still competitive in the field.”

—Staff writer Madeleine Shapiro can be reached at mshapiro@fas.harvard.edu.