The Bowdoin College men's golf team is on the brink of breaking into the top echelon of the conference. Their consistency is slowly starting to come out, so players have to keep stepping up and carding low numbers.
The starting five players have consistently steered clear of blowup holes but in order to reach the next level, the Polar Bears need to do more than just avoid those triple bogies.
To remain competitive with the top teams in the NESCAC all the starters need rounds in the 70s. Bowdoin must put itself in a position that gives each player a chance to shoot par in order to compete at the top.
Tomas Fortson, head coach of the men's golf team, said, "the golfers have done a good job of improving from last season. Our starting five, in particular, have progressed in terms of resiliency to avoid blowing up a round when things are not going well."
"While we have yet to play 'great' this season, we have put up good scores in every round we have played. That top group is poised to take it to the next level where the majority of the holes are paired with only a couple of bogies sprinkled in—hopefully that will happen to us as a group this season. Our 'bench players' are stronger than before and they are pushing hard to break into the top five—they are close to finding consistency from round to round," he explained.
This past weekend the Polar Bears competed at Williams College against a tough field. At Taconic Golf Course, the team finished 12th among a field of 16 teams. While Bowdoin didn't have any high numbers, they still finished in the bottom half of the leaderboard.
Williams College gained from their home course advantage and finished the weekend in first place by a ten shot margin. Williams had three of their players finish in the top six in a field that had 80 players.
Ryan Blossom '10 was the top finisher for the Polar Bears, shooting a first round 78 followed by a 74. Blossom finished in a tie for 29th. Despite a disappointing tournament, the Polar Bears were up against a tough field and were able to take many positives away from the weekend. The team will look for a strong performance today at the Maine State Tournament.
The Bowdoin College women's golf team was also in action this past weekend. Bowdoin faced Bates at Prospect Hill Golf Course in Auburn, Maine. The Polar Bears suffered a loss by a score of 375-416 as Bates played solidly up and down the lineup.
Despite the loss to Bates, the Polar Bears fought hard. First year Chelsea Gross took medalist honors by firing an 87, an outstanding start to her collegiate career.
Women's golf coach Stacy Wilson said, "the future looks bright for Bowdoin women's golf as the team had a first, in at least its recent history, by winning medalist honors in the match against Bates this past Saturday. With a northeast wind making a challenging never-played-before course even more difficult, Chelsea Gross '13 came away with top honors in her second college tournament, with her closest Bates competitor four strokes away at 91."
The women's golf team will compete next on October 3 at Prospect Hill Golf Course.