Golf team finishes well at ECACs

With the Jumbo's fifth place finish out of 18 teams in the ECAC Championships last weekend, the Tufts team has secured a place in the upper tier of NESCAC golf competition. Before this surprising performance the team had never qualified for the ECAC tournament.

In the previous week at the NESCAC Championships, Williams narrowly beat out Tufts for second place, dropping Tufts to third overall. The team carried its momentum from its strong performance at NESCACs into the ECAC tournament last weekend.

Tufts managed to secure the top spot out of all New England teams at the ECAC tournament, and only missed the top four by a narrow two shots. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, junior Brad Hawes mysteriously lost his ball on the 18th hole.

"It cost us two strokes," Sheldon said. "We looked around, he thought he hit it right at [senior co-captain Dan] Kramer, [freshman Dan] Weinbeck, and [senior Arun] Lamba but we didn't hear it drop. It was weird. Brad thought it was right there."

If not for this mishap, Tufts could have placed fourth last weekend. The team scored a 322 on the first day and a 317 on the second in more favorable conditions.

"As a team, we were pretty happy, especially with day two," Kramer said. "It was a little bit less windy on the second day. The course was very difficult."

The team's improvement on the second day of the tournament was especially sweet, following its setback on the second day at the NESCAC Championships the previous week.

"It was nice because NESCACs went the other way," Sheldon said. "Right now we are one of the top three teams in New England. The New England Championships will be a big tournament for us."

The winning scores of 619 at the ECACs by Skidmore, as compared with a 613 winning score of Middlebury at the NESCAC Championship may reflect a difference in the difficulty of the course.

Senior co-captain Elliot Barr once again led a well-rounded Tufts performance with a 155 over two days, placing sixth individually.

Hawes shot a 157 and placed 12th. In an impressive performance, Lamba shot 160 to place 18th overall. Both Weinbeck and Kramer shot 170.

Tufts recent success has been due in large part to the play of Lamba. His consistent play was instrumental in Tufts high placement at the ECAC Championships.

"Arun has been playing really well lately," Sheldon said.

The team now looks forward to the New England Championships, the biggest golf tournament of the year. It includes fifty teams from all three divisions. The results are both overall and also divisional, which gives Tufts a unique opportunity to compare itself to more high-powered golf programs.

"It'll be nice to see the big boys," Sheldon said.

If Tufts performs well, it can look forward to the next level, the NCAA Championships. Although this tournament looms far in the future, preparation for such a tournament begins now.

"[Our performance at the ECACs and the upcoming New England's] bodes well for qualifying for the NCAA Championships," Kramer said.

"For not having our own course or being able to play every day as most teams we play have, we're doing really well," Sheldon said.