Women’s Golf Expects to Build on Ninth Place Finish at NCAA’s

The Amherst women’s golf team finished the 2017-18 season with an impressive run to the NCAA Division III National Championships, claiming ninth place out of the top 22 Division III women’s golf teams in the nation. The Mammoths did so despite the relative youth and inexperience of much of the roster, which leaves the team well poised to improve upon its already impressive results.

At the championship meet, the Mammoths finished well behind the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas, who won their first national championship in program history at the tournament held in Orlando, Florida. Archrival Williams finished second, with the Athenas needing a three-hole playoff at the end of the match to top the Ephs. Amherst was the only other team from the NESCAC to compete at the competition.

The team returns all but one member of last year’s roster, with the only departure being from graduating senior Zoe Wong ’18. Thus, many of the team’s top performers return to the squad, including Morgan Yurosek ’20 and Kate Weiss ’19, both of whom put forth strong performances at nationals.

Sophomores Isabelle Ouyang and Lily Worden also return to the team, both of whom participated in the season-ending tournament last year. Given this wealth of experience on such a young squad, the Mammoths appear poised to improve upon last year’s results and challenge for tournament championships in the coming year.

The team’s national ranking reflects this potential, as the team starts the year ranked sixth in the nation amongst its Division III peers. Joining the already young roster are two new golfers who will look to step into the lineup from the season’s start in India Guame ’22 and Mina Lee ’22.

The team will open the year at the Ann S. Batchelder Invitational Tournament hosted by Wellesley College on Saturday, Sept. 15. The Mammoths won the 2017 edition of this tournament and will look to repeat as champions.