The links were certainly friendly to the Boston University women’s golf team this past weekend, as the Terriers placed third at the Massachusetts State Invitational last Friday and second at the Northeast Championships on Saturday and Sunday.
Sophomore Brenna Gibson led the way for BU on Friday at the Massachusetts State Invitational in South Hadley. Gibson’s six-over-par 78 was good enough for third overall in the individual standings. Sophomore Kara Vaneck (12th overall), freshman Haley Goucher (16th), junior Leah Johnson (19th) and junior Nicole Schiffer (27th) rounded out the top five for BU. The Terriers finished the round with a 346, five strokes behind second-place University of Massachusetts at Amherst and 23 behind champion Harvard University.
BU coach Cammy Landry had nothing but praise for her entire team – and for Gibson in particular.
“The most exciting part of the day was [Gibson] coming in third,” Landry said. “It was pouring, the course was in very bad shape, there were temporary tees and greens everywhere and [Gibson] shoots a 78. I thought it was phenomenal.
“Although Harvard won, and Amherst beat us by five strokes, I think [Gibson] deserves a lot of recognition,” she added. “I am very pleased with the results. I would have liked second, but I am happy with third.”
Johnson said even though there were some grueling circumstances to overcome, the team proved it was up to the task.
“I think it’s great that all of our talents came together and played well in one day,” she said. “We overcame terrible course conditions and all played well as a team.”
BU played even better over the weekend at the Northeast Championships in Amherst. The Terriers placed three golfers in the top 13 en route to finishing second overall out of 13 schools.
BU finished with a score of 681 – three strokes ahead of third-place Dartmouth College and 34 strokes behind Harvard, which took its second tournament of the weekend. However, the Terriers shot a 332 on Sunday, 17 strokes better than Saturday’s performance to set a record-low score for the BU women’s golf program.
Landry was pleasantly surprised by the team’s dramatic improvement on Sunday
“Typically we do better on the first day of tournaments,” Landry said. “The improvement we showed in the second day was phenomenal.”
Landry also said the Northeast Tournament was a test in more ways than one, as BU faced off with two schools it will compete against for the America East Championship.
Vaneck was very enthusiastic about the team’s performance on Sunday.
“The record-breaking match was really exciting,” she said. “The first day [at Amherst], the course played really tough. The second day, we moved back to Mt. Holyoke [the site of the Massachusetts State Invitational], so we had advantages of being familiar with the course and the tremendous support shown to us by the men’s team, who drove all the way out to Western Mass. to cheer us on.”
Gibson once again led the BU attack, shooting a 166 over the tournament, good for ninth overall.
“It was great to see [Gibson] play so great this weekend,” Johnson said. “She deserved it.”
The usual suspects completed the top five for the Terriers, with Goucher tying for 11th with a score of 168, Johnson placing 13th with a 169, Vaneck coming in at 30th with a 178 and Schiffer placing 47th with a 196. Sophomore Carolina Boulanger also shot a 196, which tied her with Schiffer for BU’s final spot.
The Terriers will end their season on May 3 and 4 at the America East Championships against the University of Hartford and the University at Albany in Hebron, Conn. After the performances of this past weekend, Vaneck said the team has high expectations for itself.
“I’m really looking forward to next weekend,” Vaneck said. “The men’s team will be there with us, and we’ll be supporting each other. I think it will be a great advantage.”
Landry also said she wants to build off of the weekend’s success.
“I want to take the experience and teamwork we showed this past weekend and take it right to Hebron for the America East Championship,” Landry said. “Hopefully, we can keep it rolling.”