Tufts' golf team opened its season this past weekend with a third-place finish at the Bowdoin Invitational Tournament in Brunswick, Maine. Playing at the par 72 Brunswick Golf Club, the Jumbos finished first among NESCAC entrants.
The two-day event featured a smorgasbord of 12 teams, including seven NESCAC squads from four different schools, with the Jumbos edging out their closest conference opponent, Bowdoin's black squad, by four strokes.
"It was good for us to beat Bowdoin at Bowdoin, on their home course," coach Bob Sheldon said. "We got a feel for our competition before we meet them head-to-head later in the year."
With the top five golfers yet to be officially determined, Sheldon brought five returnees to Maine for the tournament - sophomore Bard Hawes, juniors Arun Lamba, Brian Tarmey, and Dan Kramer, and with senior Erich Mulanger.
"We're not really set right now," Tarmey said. "We just brought a few of the guys who had all played before and did alright at tryouts."
After the first day of competition in Brunswick, Jumbo golfers found themselves in fourth place overall with a score of 328, 14 shots behind leader University of Maine-Farmington. But the Tufts squad stepped up its game on the next day, shooting a combined 318 - the second-best team performance of the day - and vaulted themselves into third place with a final tally of 647. Tarmey and Kramer played integral roles in the Jumbos' move, shaving nine and six shots, respectively, off their first day scores. Tarmey rebounded from a 15 over par 87 on Saturday to shoot a 78 on Sunday, while Kramer came back from an 85 to register a 79 one day later.
"Brian had never played the course before," Sheldon said. "He knew that playing the course once would lower his score on the second day and it did. As for Kramer, well, that's just Kramer."
Hawes was Tufts' top finisher, ending up in a tie for seventh place in the individual competition. He shot identical scores of 79 for a total of 158, four shots back from overall leader Shane Ross of Husson College. Husson claimed the team championship for the second consecutive year, outdistancing Maine-Farmington by 11 shots and the Jumbos by 22.
"Husson is in the NAIA, not the NESCAC," Sheldon said. "They're a good team and are noted for their golf."
Behind Hawes on the Jumbo scorecard was Kramer, with a two-day total of 164. Tarmey and Lamba (82-83) tied for second with 165, while Mulanger notched a 167 (82-85).
"The tournament was a good indicator for the rest of the season," Sheldon said. "We have a good team, a real competitive team, and it should be a good year for golf."
Noticeably absent from the green for Tufts was junior Elliot Barr, the team's top golfer a year ago. Barr is currently studying abroad in Madrid, Spain, and will miss the season.
"Eliot was always the low scorer last year, except once," Sheldon said. "It's hard to lose him, but Brad [Hawes] has come through and we're a more well-rounded team this year."
Tarmey echoed his coach's sentiments. "In Eliot, we lost our best player," he said. "But other than that, we have pretty much everyone coming back."
Tarmey, Hawes, Lamba, Mulanger, and Kramer are five of the returnees, who will once again be joined on the roster by seniors Ben Eastwood and Jon Japha.
Aside from Barr, the Jumbos also lost Zach Bromer and Todd Fettig to graduation, paving the way for new faces to fill the vacated spots. Typically, some freshmen make the squad, but this year's tryouts, held at Newton Commonwealth, weeded out all the rookies in the field and left senior Mike Feldman, junior Arulano Chary, and sophomores Dave Hendler, Nathaniel Sager, and Andrew Weiss standing at the end.
"I think we'll be all right," Tarmey said. "We have no freshmen, but most of the new guys are sophomores. We really only need five quality guys and we have more than that."
Next up on the schedule for coach Sheldon and his squad is the Colby Invitational this Sunday in Waterville, Me., with a 12 p.m. tee time.
