On April 27th, for the first time in program history, Wellesley’s varsity golfing team won the Liberty League, their competitive conference championship. Head coach Jackie Beck led the blue to the title in just her fifth year in the position, during which the Blue have seen incredible improvement. Formerly the head coach of Brown University, Coach Beck has experience at the highest level that has helped build this Wellesley program into the sixth best division III golf team in the country.

The championship began on April 26th at the Par 72 Pinehaven Country Club. At the end of a competitive day one, Wellesley and New York University, ranked 9th in division III, were tied with 302 strokes. For these types of championships, five Wellesley players will hit, but the four top scores are recorded. On a par-72 course, therefore, the team value was shockingly only 14 strokes over par (288). Even more impressive were Wellesley’s places on the podium: sophomores Sarah Yeh and Audrey Wang were tied for first place overall, both only shooting one over par. Meanwhile, classmate Kaurvaki Bajpai was ranked seventh overall, tied with first-year Savannah Boyd.

On day two of competition, the Blue continued to impress. They shot 310, which combined with their prior score for 612 overall, good for first place. New York University came in second with 618. Wang won the individual competition, matching her score from the day before with another 73. Yeh was able to capture second place with a score of 39 on day two. Boyd and Bajpai remained tied in seventh place. Wang and Yeh received first-team all-conference accolades, while Boyd and Bajpai won second-team all-conference honors. To win the competition was impressive enough, but to do it led by underclassmen is all the more staggering. The program clearly has the potential to continue getting better and better.

With the win, the Blue have earned a berth to the Division III National Championships for the first time as a team. They will take place from May 13-16 at the Kingsmill Resort & Spa in Williamsburg, Va and can be viewed through the NCAA website. The Wellesley News commends our sibs on the golf team for making history and wishes them continued success at the Championships.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Julee Sharma, Finley Tipton, Katie McCabe