After the Tufts golf team finished first at Colby College's Sid Farr International Saturday, the team was jubilant. The result of Tuesday's ECAC Championships at the Hamden Country Club proved in golf, momentum can shift as quickly as New England weather.
The Jumbos finished 12th out of 19 teams. Salem State took first place with a score of 18-over 306, well ahead of the Jumbos' aggregate mark of 333, tied with Brandeis at 45-over.
"We knew we weren't going to win," said coach Bob Sheldon, who is in his 16th year with the team. "We were a little tired from Saturday. We had to leave here at 6 a.m. It was just a bad day on the course ... it just wears down on you."
There were a few bright spots yesterday. Junior co-captains Matt Linde and Justin Meier finished first and second for Tufts. Linde shot a smooth 75, tying for third overall, while Meier finished with a 78, a tie for 11th place. Meier and Linde have been the top two for Tufts in every tournament this year.
"I think I played pretty well. I was struggling with putting before, but today I putted really well. That's the big difference for me," Linde said.
Sophomore David Hunt agreed with Linde's self-assessment. "He had a really stellar performance. He hit the ball really well. He played really strong."
Meier's performance impressed his teammates.
"Justin Meier played really well. He came through for us big," Hunt said.
Hunt, meanwhile, was one of several Jumbos who struggled yesterday. He shot a 90, a far cry from his 79 on Saturday.
"My mind pretty much wasn't focused today," he said. "I got off on the wrong foot and it went down from there."
His teammates didn't seem to be worried.
"Watch out for Dave Hunt," Linde said. "I'm sure he's going to bounce back."
With Hunt in the standings was senior co-captain Sebastian Gonzalez, who also finished at 90, while freshman Phil Haslett finished at 103 in last place in his first college tournament.
"[Haslett] had a lot of nerves. He didn't find out until late Monday night that he was going to play," Sheldon said. "It's kind of tough to do that."
With the golf team retaining only three players, this upcoming season might be focused on rebuilding. Despite his performance, Sheldon said Haslett's participation was postitive.
"He can get a feel for it. We want our freshmen to play so they can be contributors later on at Tufts," Sheldon said.
Hunt sympathizes with the new players. "Freshman year wasn't easy," he said. "I was getting used to Tufts ... I had struggled. This year, I am more focused and it shows in most of my scores."
But the team is optimistic about the future.
"This year is definitely going to be the best year. We have three players who should be below 80 every time we go out," Linde said.
The next two tournaments, NESCAC Tournament at Williams and the New England Championships, will be huge tests for this young team.
"We want to finish in the top three out of 11 at the NESCAC tournament. Last year we finished 20th out of 48 teams in the New England tournament, and this year we want to be in the top 15," Sheldon said.
Despite the bump that was the ECAC, the team is confident they can accomplish these goals in the upcoming tournaments.
