Chang finishes first, Penn fourth at ECACs

Any time a team has two of its athletes finish in the top three of a tournament, it should be considered a good weekend.

By those standards, the Penn women’s golf team, which placed fourth in a field of 11 squads, had a successful weekend at the ECAC Women’s Championship.

And Penn junior Olivia Chang had a great weekend. Shooting seven over par at 151 over two days, Chang tied with Dartmouth junior Sarah Knapp as the tournament co-champion in a field of 54 players.

It was the first individual win of Chang’s collegiate career.

Chang finished the weekend one stroke ahead of her teammate, sophomore Amanda Chin, at the Twisted Dune Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J.

“We had two great performances individually,” Penn coach Mark Anderson said. “They both played really well.”

The last time Anderson led the Quakers into this event was in 2009, when they took the title. Sitting in second place after one day, Penn looked in prime position to make another run at the championship.

But the Red and Blue shot 322 on the second day after an opening day 316, dropping them from second to fourth.

“It was pretty windy out there … and the conditions were a little tough,” Chang said.

While the team has to be happy with a lot of things it was able to accomplish, there is still room for improvement.

“After playing two tournaments, we have a clear vision of what we have to work on over the next few weeks,” Anderson said. “We have some short game things that we still have to work on.”

The Quakers will have two weekends off to assess those areas before traveling to Milford, Conn., for the Sacred Heart Fall Classic — their final tournament of the fall.

Chin, who set a school record for one round of play with a 68 in the first tournament of the fall season, continued her solid play, shooting a first-round 77 and a second-round 75.

“It just finally clicked all of a sudden,” Chin said. “All the hard work has been paying off. The mental side of the game is coming together a lot better.”

Two years ago, the Quakers won the Ivy League team championships by 22 strokes. This year, the goal is no different.

“Win Ivies,” Chin said.

Based on the weekend’s showing at ECACs, Penn has the talent to do it again. Applying Olivia Chang’s simple strategy for victory could help as well.

“I just thought about it one shot at a time and focused on every single stroke,” Chang said.

SEE ALSO

BRIEF | Women’s golf takes 11th at Yale Invite

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.