Women's Golf Tees Up The 2015 Season In Augusta This Weekend
3/11/2015 4:02:00 PM | Women's Golf
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NEW YORK – The first spring season under head coach Amy Weeks starts this weekend, when the Columbia women's golf team travels south to Augusta, Georgia for the 3M Jaguar Intercollegiate.
The first round this weekend kicks off on Friday, March 13, in a three-day event at Forest Hills Golf Club hosted by Georgia Regents, formerly Augusta State. The Jaguars are a Division-II school in 11 athletic programs, and compete in Division-I men's and women's golf.
The field this weekend includes: Chattanooga, Coastal Carolina, Columbia, East Tennessee State, Furman, Georgia Regents, Kennesaw State, Lamar, Marshall, Maryland, Mercer, Troy and UNC Greensboro. These teams will compete on the par-71 course, which will play at 6,085 yards.
This weekend's event will be one of three for the Lions before the Ivy League Championship in Upper Saucon, Pennsylvania on April 24-26. Columbia will also compete in the Seton Hall Pirate Invitational on April 2-3, and the River Landing Classic in Wallace, North Carolina on April 11-12.
In her first fall season at the helm, Weeks helped the Columbia women's golf team to excel in four autumn outings.
The Lions began the fall season in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, at the Lady Bison Fall Classic. In a field of 14 teams at the Bucknell Golf Club, a Par-70, 5998-yard course, Columbia held its own, finishing in fourth place overall. Sophomore Rachel Shi paced the Lions, finishing seventh overall at +18 (228). Classmate Camilla Vik was one spot behind Shi at +19 (229), in a tie for eighth.
The most memorable outing for Columbia in the fall came at the Nittany Lion Invitational, Oct. 4-5. At the Penn State Blue Course, a Par-72, 6328-yard challenge, the Lions came out on top in another 14-team field, firing a +30 (894). Columbia proved to be one-stroke better than second place Yale, and three-shots ahead of third place Harvard.
Along with the team title, junior Monique Ishikawa took second place individually in the event at +3 overall, aided by a final round 69 (-3). The runner-up finish for Ishikawa came on the heels of two victories in the spring of 2014 for the Kailua, Hawaii, native.
After the competition in Happy Valley, Columbia boarded a plane to Seattle to take part in the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, hosted by the University of Washington. The Lions teed up at Sahalee Country Club, a course known for hosting the 1998 PGA Championship, the 2002 NEC World Golf Championship, and the 2010 USGA Senior Open. For this tournament, the tees were set at 6054 yards on the Par-72 course. Led by Vik, who carded rounds of 76 and 73 finish in a tie for 16th place, Columbia finished seventh out of 12 teams in the weather-shortened event. The Lions were the only east coast team participating in the tournament, and amongst others, were able to best San Jose State, Oregon State, and Colorado State.
In the final event of the fall season, Columbia traveled down I-95 for the Princeton Invitational, on Oct. 18-19 at Springdale Golf Club. The women once again had a memorable finish, taking third place on the Par-71, 6380-yard course. First-year Nancy Xu was the top Lion at the event, finishing in a tie for seventh after firing a +10, 226 (75-73-78). Xu played one stroke ahead of Vik (t-9th, +11), and three shots better than Shi (t-13th, +13). The Sunnyvale, California, native became the first Columbia first-year to be the top finisher in a tournament since Ishikawa did so in her first tournament of 2012.
Along with Vik, Shi, Ishikawa and Xu, Columbia returns seniors Lisa Combs and Joanna Henry, junior Lilette Mocio, sophomore Jackie Chulya and first-year Monica Chen.
Players Mentioned
