Down two holes with two holes to play, Alexa Tsay ’17 knew that she needed to take some risks to get back in her match. Keeping the ball low to counteract the 40 mile per hour winds that had been wreaking havoc on golfers for the entire day, Tsay outplayed her opponent for the final two holes. After sticking the chip to two feet, Tsay knocked down a birdie putt to win the 17th hole and eventually halve the match after the 18th hole.
Tsay’s comeback and the dominant 5&4 victory of four-year veteran Billy Casagrande ’15 were the lone bright spots for Andover in a 10-2 loss to Tabor. The loss is only Andover’s fourth loss in the last three years.
Andover made the long journey to Falmouth Country Club this past Saturday.
Players were forced to combat cold temperatures and extreme winds and had almost no opportunity to warm up following a two hour drive.
“We had only gotten a chance to play one round thus far, and after a long drive on a cold day, some had slow starts and dug themselves into holes as a result. I would attribute most of it to rust and expect improvement heading into our next matchup,” said Co-Head Coach Christopher Odden.
Casagrande was one of the only players who started off quickly for Andover. The greens were rolling slowly, but Casagrande impressively two-putted on nearly every hole.
“I’d say my victory was a combination of superior intellect in decision making and accurate short game,” said Casagrande.
The team struggled with fast winds, forcing the team to change clubs on nearly all of its shots to compensate, and even Andover’s putts strayed away from the intended line.
Alexa Tsay said, “The balls were rolling really weirdly because of the wind, and I had to club up and down by as much three clubs to compensate for the wind power. Other than that, conditions were okay, especially given the rough winter we’ve had here.”
Captain Tyler Tsay ’15 also struggled.
“Conditions were tough out there, but we just have to remember that everyone’s playing in the same wind, the same cold and push onward. I think that for our first match to be in 30-40 mile per hour wind, it threw us off. But next match, we’ll be back in the swing of things,” said Tyler Tsay.
Despite some disappointment from the loss, Andover is largely unfazed by this first showing of the season, and the team will look to improve in its next match.
“We’re on to Holderness,” said Coach Brian D. Faulk ’00.
