Best showing yet for Thomson

For Chrissy Thomson, wind is nothing to whine about.
The Fort Frances native, and member of the St. John’s Red Storm university women’s golf team, gritted her teeth in the face of a brisk Atlantic breeze and crafted a two-day total of 18-over 162 to finish second by three strokes last weekend at the NCAA’s Harvard Invitational at Cape Cod, Mass.
The runner-up result was the sophomore’s best individual placing so far in her collegiate career—and the fact she did it in less-than-ideal conditions has her staring at brighter horizons.
“Before now, when the weather was like this, I wouldn’t score too well,” said Thomson, who helped her team to a fourth-place tie in the event.
“It means a lot to me that now I’ve shown I can be one of the better players out there, even under tough conditions.”
An opening-round 78 on Saturday actually had Thomson tied atop the leaderboard with Harvard’s Meredith Chiampa—the first time the Canadian sharpshooter has held that vantage point in an NCAA event since coming to St. John’s.
She denied feeling any pressure despite being the front-runner coming into Sunday and set out for her second round keen on putting together two consistent rounds.
It didn’t quite work that way.
“I had a couple of big numbers on the front nine,” noted Thomson. “The course was playing really tough. I made a couple of bad swings in the wrong places.
“But then I made a good par on No. 9 to get me going and then made birdie on No. 10,” she added. “It seems like I always need that clutch putt to get me going again if I’m struggling.”
Throughout the second round, Thomson kept her eye on Chiampa, who ballooned to an 89 on Sunday to knock her back to sixth place.
But Yale’s Lauren Ressler—two strokes behind Thomson entering play Sunday—snuck in through the back door with the day’s second-best score of 78 to finish with a 15-over 179 and wrestle the title from Thomson’s grasp.
Still, Thomson enters the winter break with a pair of top-10 finishes to her credit this year, and more importantly, valuable momentum that could vault her to even greater heights.
“I want that win,” she said, determinedly. “I feel it’s attainable. I’ve got a lot more confidence in my game, and this second-place finish definitely gives me more motivation.
“The break will be good,” she added. “It’s going to go by fast. I want to do a lot of weight training, because I definitely want to get stronger for the spring.
“I can still work on my game indoors. I look forward to a lot of good play this spring,” Thomson concluded.