In its final tournament of the fall season, the Ithaca College golf team placed fourth at the George Phinney Jr. Golf Classic Oct. 8 at Middlebury College. The team shot 671 overall, and trailed first-place Williams College by 42 strokes.
Head coach Molly Braid said the field was the most competitive the Bombers have faced all season, with two teams ranked among the top 10 in the country.
“It would’ve taken our best play on both days to get in the mix there,” Braid, who was recently named the Empire 8 Women’s Golf Coach of the Year, said.
Braid said the conditions from Hurricane Matthew made for tough scoring conditions on the first day of the tournament.
“The wind made the course a bit harder,” Braid said. “A few of the holes played tough with the wind behind us. The wind can leave you with a lot of uncertainty but it didn’t take them out of their games. I was really proud of the way they played and think they will only continue to improve as they work on all of the aspects of their games.”
Despite the weather, the South Hill squad was able to score 332 as a team in the first round, which placed them in fourth heading into the second day of competition.
On the second day, the Bombers added seven strokes to their score to finish with 339.
Leading the way for the blue and gold was senior Kimberly Wong. The Empire 8 Women’s Golf Player of the Week shot for 78 on the first day and 83 on the second day, resulting in a total score of 161, good for ninth overall in the standings.
Junior Indiana Jones followed with a total score of 163. Jones was able to improve on her score from day one of the tournament by one stroke, and her overall score put her in 16th place.
Junior Kyra Denish kept pace with her teammates, placing 28th with a total score of 169. Freshman Peyton Greco and junior Lauren Saylor rounded out the scoring for the Bombers, shooting for 181 and 184, respectively. Saylor posted the same scores on both days, while Greco went from a 86 on her first day to a 95 on her second.
This concluded the fall season for the Bombers. Of the five tournaments in which they participated, they placed first in two of them, including the Empire 8 Championship.
Despite the results at this tournament, Braid said there is a lot of work to do going forward.
“It was a successful fall season, but we have a ways to go to prepare for our spring season,” She said. “We didn’t leave much out there this fall, and now we know the areas we need to improve on for this spring’s season.”
The Bombers will be back in action March 12–17, 2017, when they visit Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
