The golf team followed up its third-place finish in the season's opening tournament with a 13th-place result at the Duke Nelson Invitational, held at the par 71 Ralph Myhre Golf Course in Middlebury, Vt.
Tufts finished a collective 68 over par, with a five-man two-day total of 636 strokes. The Jumbos were 37 strokes behind the event's champions, the Skidmore Thoroughbreds.
The Jumbos initially struggled on Saturday with poor weather. The players were confronted with windy and rainy conditions that made it difficult to judge distances for drives and approach shots, as well as causing the greens to play slowly. Senior Pat Sullivan, who won the team's inaugural tournament of the season, was the lone Jumbo to shoot his weekend low score on the first day of the tournament, recording a 79 compared to his Sunday score of 83.
"I was happy with my 79 since the course was playing four shots harder that day," Sullivan wrote in an e-mail to the Daily. "But my lackluster 83 is something I will try to put behind me when our team heads out to Hamilton's home course for the NESCAC championship two weekends from now."
Freshman Danny Moll enjoyed the biggest improvement between Saturday and Sunday, besting his opening round score of 87 by 13 strokes. The Jumbos collectively improved by 21 strokes from round one to round two, a strong turnaround after struggling the first day.
"Saturday was a rainy morning, and it was really chilly out there," Moll said. "There was also a strong wind, which made it difficult for us to stay at the top of our game. But on Sunday, the course dried out and it was much easier for us to handle. Sunday was definitely the better of the two days for us."
Freshman Luke Heffernan led Tufts with a tournament total of 158. Heffernan registered an 82 on Saturday and followed it up by firing a 76 on the Invitational's final day, leaving him tied for 39th overall at +16. Senior captain Dave Hunt also turned in a stellar performance, finishing second on the team. His 84 on Saturday and 76 on Sunday gave him a tournament total of 160, just two strokes behind Heffernan. The five-man roster for the Jumbos was separated by a mere eight strokes.
"It only assured us a [13th] place finish out of 26 teams," Sullivan said. "But the fact that these young guys are showing that they can compete in the big tournaments gives the golf team a chance to compete with the big-name schools of Div. III."
Senior Travis Dewire of Babson captured the individual crown with a two-day score of 145, defeating Skidmore sophomore Chris DeJohn, who also scored a three-over 145, in a sudden death playoff.
The Tufts golfers have been working hard in recent weeks to improve their collective game. Practices have been intense and competitive as players vie for spots on tournament rosters. The lowest three scores from the previous week's tournament are automatically qualified for the next event. This leaves the team's remaining six players vying for two spots.
"We've really been going after it recently," sophomore Brett Hershman said. "Obviously we all want to play and are trying our best to make the tournament roster, but we still want to see our teammates improve. If one player can shave just one stroke off his average, then we have improved as a team. It's this attitude that allows us to come together as a unit."
If practice results are any indication, the upcoming season has a lot of promise for the Jumbos, who seek to build upon their promising season last year. Although the Jumbos did not play as well as they had hoped to at the Duke Nelson, Moll offered an optimistic outlook for the fall season.
"We've been relying on a couple of standout performances each day, but we have yet to have a day when all our players are on top of their game," Moll said. "Once this happens, we'll start clicking."
