Men’s Golf Struggles to Build on Previous Season’s Success in Williams Fall Invitational

The men’s golf team began the fall season teeing off in Williamstown, Mass. at the Williams Fall Invitational at Taconic Golf Club last weekend, Sept. 12-13.

The Panthers shot 630 for the weekend and finished twelfth in the 20 team field, 29 shots back of Trinity, which carded a 601 en route to victory. Other NESCAC notables included place Williams (605), ninth place Hamilton (623), 10th place Amherst (625) and 13th place Tufts (632).

Joe Ko '18 shot a 156 and was the low scorer for the Panthers. He shot a 75 on Sunday, good for the seventh lowest score of the day, as he bounced back from shooting an 81 on Saturday. However, Graham Kenter ’17.5, Rodrigo Andrade ’17 and defending co-NESCAC champion Bennett Doherty ’18 all finished within three strokes of Ko’s team low. Kenter shot a 157, Andrade carded a 158 and Doherty carded a 159. Much like Ko, Doherty managed to recover from an 81 on Saturday with a round in the 70s Sunday. Trinity’s Will Rosenfield finished atop the leader board at one over with a 143.

The weekend posed many unique challenges to the Panthers. The team competed without Matt Marra ’17 and two-time defending NESCAC champion Fitz Bowen ’17, who are both abroad, and also played without its talented crop of first year students who were on their Middview trips.

The players who were able to make the trip to northwestern Massachusetts were greeted with inclement weather.

“It rained off and on the whole round on Saturday, and Sunday was windy and threatening rain the whole round," Kenter said.

"We all struggled with the greens - Williams is the hardest and longest course we play all year and the conditions didn't help. Everyone’s excited about playing at home this weekend, and we’re also looking forward to returning to Williams in two weeks to play again in the NESCAC qualifier,” he added. Despite carding the lowest round for the Panthers, Ko may have been the most affected by the weather.

“Despite good ball-striking, my putting was a bit rusty,” Ko said. “For two days, I had a total of thirteen 3-putts.”

As the qualifier approaches Doherty says he wants to get better off the tee, while Ko aims to improve his putting. However, Doherty, Ko and Kenter all talked about one area in particular that the team is highly motivated to improve: consistency, which could be a challenge for a young team like the Panthers.

Doherty admits that the fall season will pose unique challenges.

“We only have five returning players in the fall and, therefore, we have much less overall experience than teams in the past,” Doherty said. “That being said, we are also very excited about the strong group of freshmen coming in and we are ready to work at it to play our best despite the lack of experience.” The goal for the fall season is “to play our best and work hard to put ourselves in position to win NESCAC’s,” Doherty said. This first tournament may have been a frustrating one for the men’s golf squad, but it is only the beginning of a long road to this spring’s NESCAC Tournament and the NCAAs.

“We have the same expectations as every year — we want to win the NESCAC’s and make it to the NCAA tournament, and then make the cut at Nationals,” Kenter said.

The Panthers will take to the Ralph Myhre Golf Course this weekend as they host the annual Duke Nelson Invitational, which tees off at 9 a.m.