Slow greens and high winds kept the Penn women’s golf team from pushing past first-place Yale and St. John’s for the top spot this weekend at the C&F; Bank Intercollegiate in Williamsburg, Va.
Despite beating out seventeen other teams, the defending Ivy champion Quakers seemed largely unsatisfied with their play.
“We were hoping for a little bit better than third,” said coach Mark Anderson, who is in his third year with the women’s team. “We were a little bit rusty, and [we] had a few too many three-putts.”
The Quakers shot a 310 on Sunday and a 625 overall.
Last week, Anderson told Penn Athletics that he hoped to focus on improving his team’s short game.
According to sophomore Isabelle Han, who shot 151 (75-76) and tied for fifth place with freshman Michelle Lee, it was the short game that caused the most trouble for the Quakers in Virginia.
“Yesterday I felt that I could’ve been more confident overall, and then today I worked on my confidence, but the greens were not working with me. I struggled with my putting the most,” said Han, who claimed medalist honors when she last played at the OMNI Intercollegiate in Georgia.
“It was frustrating,” she said, “because my putting is probably the strongest part of my game. Just last week, I was dropping every putt, and this week they wouldn’t go in.”
Lee cited her short game as a stumbling block, as well.
The greens, she said, were particularly difficult as she came up against fierce competition from Yale’s rookie Seo Hee Moon, who won the tournament by six strokes.
“I was playing with one of the best girls,” Lee said. “I wish I could say that didn’t bother me, but I just wanted to beat her.”
“You can’t let other players affect you,” she explained. “I tried to change the rhythm of the game, but I just couldn’t put anything in the hole.”
Still, the women have confidence that they can uphold the reputation they garnered after last season’s success.
“I know that my putting is as good as it can be,” Han said. “I’m just going to remember this and learn from it and keep doing what I’m doing. I’m not too worried about it.”
The Quakers will next face the Bulldogs in two weeks when Penn travels to Beallsville, Md., for the Hoya Invitational.
“They’re beatable,” Lee said. “We can do better next time.”
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