Women Golfers Capture Sixth Place at Hartford

Normally when a team finishes sixth out of eight teams at a tournament it's head-hanging time.

But for Harvard's women's golf team, in its first full season of action, a sixth-place finish at the Hartford Invitational in Simsbury, CT this weekend was a step in the right direction.

"We weren't really expecting to win or anything because there were a lot of good teams, " freshman Megan Murray said. "We just wanted to see some other teams, see what their programs are like and put together the best effort we could."

The Crimson finished sixth with a 761 overall for ten rounds of golf, two each for five players. James Madison was first with a 663; Princeton was second (677); Rutgers was third (698); Boston College was fourth (699); and Hartford was fifth (712). Harvard edged out Yale (787) and Mount Holyoke (858).

The action in the tournament consisted of two eighteen-hole rounds of golf--the first on Friday and the second on Saturday.

On Friday, the Crimson shot a sub-standard 394, in part due to the inconvenience of torrential rainfall.

"It was really yucky," Murray said. "The conditions were really bad, and I think that that really hurt us. Only Alexis (Boyle) put in a good performance on the first day."

Freshman Boyle, the leader of the team throughout this season, shot an 82 on the first day. In addition, Murray shot a 93; junior Rosie Stovell, a 104; junior Emilie Kao, 115; and sophomore Madge Roberts, a 131.

The second day of action proved better for the team, as it shot an impressive 367.

Boyle again led the way, shooting an 85 to finish the tourney tied for sixth with an overall score of 167.

In addition, Stovell shot an 85 to finish tied for 25th overall (189); Murray shot a 96 to also tie for 25th (189); Kao shot a 101 to finish 38th (216); and Roberts fired a 103 to finish 41st (234).

"The second round really made the tournament for us," Murray said. "It showed us we can compete with some good teams."