Sports
Golf squads each finish in fourth at Williams Spring Invitational
By Jane Bary ’19
April 28, 2016
Tags sports
The Hamilton women’s golf team closed out their spring season last weekend with a number of personal bests, while the men’s team hopes to channel last week’s slightly disappointing fourth place finish into a learning experience ahead of the NESCAC championships on Saturday.
On the women’s side, the Continentals braved windy conditions and a demanding course to finish in fourth place out of four NESCAC teams at the Williams Spring Invitational, held last Saturday and Sunday. The host team finished on top with a 639 team score, with Amherst and Middlebury not far behind. Hamilton posted a 765, a total which is based on the scores of the top four scorers from the team.
Liz Morris ’16, one of the charter members of the relatively new women’s golf program, finished her college career with scores of 92 and 93 across the two days of competition, good for the top total score on the Hamilton squad. “It is very bittersweet to be finished with my college golf career,” Morris said. “My time on the team greatly impacted my college experience, and I am grateful to my teammates over the years for all of the lessons on and off the course.”
Libbie Warner ’19 delivered the best single-day score for the team, shooting 89 on Saturday. Charlotte Chandler ’17 and Rui Osaka ’17 also posted solid weekends for the Continentals.
Overall, the Hamilton women had some promising showings throughout the 2015-2016 campaign, including a team win at their home invitational during the fall and a fourth place finish out of eight local schools at mid-April tournament. Along with Warner, Electra Washburn ’19 emerged as a program cornerstone, earning two individualist medal honors and winning the SUNY Cobleskill Fighting Tigers Jug Classic in September.
The team had to deal with some injuries throughout the season, including a broken finger which sidelined Washburn for the season finale, making things challenging for the small squad of seven. With Morris being the lone senior, Hamilton women’s golf will lose its captain and a strong player heading into next year, but the squad has some talented younger golfers who can fill the void.
The men’s season is not over yet, as the Continentals will prepare for the NESCAC tournament at Middlebury this weekend. The squad finished fourth out of seven NESCAC schools at the Williams Invitational and was competitive with the teams ahead of it.
Bayard Geeslin ’16 was a standout this weekend, logging a third place individual finish with a score of 153. He led the Hamilton team, which posted a team score of 631. Williams, which finished third, was not that far ahead with a 621. Matt Yung ’16 also did well for the Continentals, tying for 11th, and Joe Tigani ’18 tied for 15th.
While Geeslin expressed some disappointment that the team didn’t finish higher at the Williams invite, he is optimistic about how the tournament helped the Continentals prepare for their final showing. “The conditions were extremely tough, which will hopefully prepare us for next weekend. Matt Yung and I played some good golf over the two days, so there were definitely positives to take away from the Williams tournament,” he said.
The squad has high hopes for the conference tournament, as they want to win it all. “It has been our goal since September, and we are excited to finally show how talented we are on a tough golf course at Middlebury,” Geeslin said.
The men’s team, like the women’s, will lose some key talent to graduation this year. Geeslin and Yung have anchored the team recently and will be greatly missed.
“There is a pervading sadness and pressure that comes with playing in your final season, particularly your final tournament,” Geeslin said. “I am focusing on drawing from my positive highlights and rounds from my career at Hamilton to overcome the looming conclusion to my wonderful time here.”
Morris, from the women’s squad, is sad to be leaving the program, but looks forward to taking advantage of other opportunities to play in the future. “Fortunately, competitive golfing isn’t something that has to end for me now, even though the college tournament scene is over,” she said. “I’ll miss the weekends with the team, but I know I won’t stay away too long.”