Women's golf takes home first place at Wellesley

Author: Jeff Klein

According to an old English proverb, "Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors."

That quote certainly applies to the Middlebury women's golf team this past weekend.

Washed out by rain on Saturday, the Panthers were forced to compete in a rain-shortened event, yet displayed the mental fortitude on Sunday necessary to capture first place at the first annual Ann S. Batchelder Golf Invitational hosted by Wellesley College.

Several Panther participants put forth outstanding performances. First-year Flora Weeks '12 - who has played excellent golf in each of the team's first three events - shot a 79 on the day, which landed her in a second-place tie overall.

"Flora has been a great addition to the team, and she seems to adapting to college golf quite well," said captain Julie Ellenberger '09. "Her scoring has been solid and it should be fun to keep watching her develop as a player and a great teammate."

The Panthers also got top-10 finishes from Courtney Mazzei '11, who tied for fifth overall with a score of 82, and Ellenberger, whose score of 84 was good for a ninth-place tie.

All of this in conditions, that were, according to several Middlebury players, exceedingly difficult to play golf in.

"The conditions on Sunday were absolutely miserable," said Mazzei. "It rained throughout the entire round, which lasted close to six hours. There were 'lakes' in the middle of fairways, puddles on the greens, and mud everywhere."

Weeks concurred, but admitted that these conditions may have given her an edge over her opponents. "The biggest thing about this tournament was who could survive in the rain and mud," she said. "I'm from Seattle and have played in those conditions before. It was easier for me to ignore the rain and just play golf."

That attitude apparently did the trick for the Panthers, who banded together and edged out Amherst by five strokes, 335 to 340.

"Our team was able to keep a good attitude and persevere through the difficult conditions," said Weeks.

"I guess I didn't realize it before, but we're a pretty scrappy team," said Mazzei. "We are capable of adjusting to the conditions and fighting through them to bring in the low scores. I also think that each individual is consistent, which makes for a solid team score."

Such consistency was epitomized Sunday by Mazzei herself, who shot a 41 on both the front and back nine. Instrumental to her success is taking a low-key approach to the game each time she competes.

"I am not one of those people who can play golf year round for five hours a day; that's just not me," she said. "When I play, I focus on shooting low and bettering myself. If I win, awesome. If I lose, that's OK too."

The Panthers will host the Middlebury Invitational this weekend, and they head into the event a confident bunch. Ellenberger noted that while the team always expects to perform well in any tournament, the recent success can only help the collective psyche of the team.

"It always gives you an extra boost when you win," she said. "We know that we can do it and are really looking forward to the weekend."