Men’s Golf Misses Cut at Nescac Qualifiers Women’s Golf Looks Ahead to Nescacs

Last weekend, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, saw a changing of the guard on both sides of the golf program.

For the women’s squad, a second-place finish in the George Phinney Golf Classic hosted by Middlebury on the Ralph Myhre Golf Course is a sign of things to come for a team on the rise. The Panthers finished only three strokes behind Amherst and a whopping 12 strokes ahead of perennial powerhouse Williams, potentially a sign of things to come as the team heads to Taconic for the Nescac tournament next weekend.

Katharine Fortin ’18 notched the third individual tournament title of her career last weekend in what will be one of her last tournaments playing at home (spring schedule pending).

Fortin shot an 81 on Saturday, well off the pace set by her teammate, Chloe Levins ’20. Levins shot a 76 on Saturday which qualified as the second-lowest score carded on the weekend. However, Levins’ 84 on Sunday put her on the outside-looking-in for the race for the individual top spot, but the strong weekend overall puts her in a good position for Nescacs this weekend.

Meanwhile, Fortin’s Sunday round of 75 was the lowest round of the weekend, tied with Williams’ Cordelia Chan. In the past, Fortin has found herself tied atop leaderboards neck-and-neck with Chan. But this time it was Fortin who got the last laugh.

Chan and Fortin followed a similar trajectory over the weekend, as both were faced with bouncing back in their second outings if they wanted to compete for the individual top spot. Fortin’s Saturday round of 81 was just enough though, since Chan shot an 82, meaning that a putt here and there made all the difference.

“As soon as I walked off the 18th green on Sunday, it sunk in that this is my last year,” Fortin said. “I am driven to make the most of next weekend at NESCACs. My teammates and I are ready to take on Taconic.”

Fortin also talked about how it was important to have a good week in practice to insure the momentum carries over from last weekend.

“This week, we will work on the final round push that held us back this weekend, remembering that every shot really does matter and no bad shot can keep you from shooting a good score,” she said. “Our negative thoughts are what have held us back from hoisting a trophy, and I know we are good enough to overcome them.”

Helen Daily ’19, Hope Matthews ’18 and Blake Yaccino ’20 shot 163, 164 and 165 for the weekend, good enough to support the effort spearheaded by Fortin and Levins to push the Panthers into second place.

But last weekend also saw a team that has dominated the men’s side of the Nescac for a better part of the decade falter. Without Reid Buzby ’19 and Phil Morin ’19, both of whom are abroad, the Panthers battled through the fall season and hoped to patch things up by the time the qualifier for the spring championships rolled around.

The Panthers were on the right trajectory heading into the weekend, but they could not muster enough low rounds at the qualifier. After having won seven of the last 11 Nescac crowns and having made the Nescac tournament every year that a qualifier has been held, the Panthers’ streak of dominance looks to be on hiatus.

Jeffrey Giguere ’20 managed a top-five round weekend with a 147 overall and a two-day split of 76–71. Giguere’s strong performances this fall have been a bright spot for the Panthers.
“It certainly was difficult to miss the cut this weekend,” Giguere said. “However, sometimes that’s just what happens and you can’t do a whole lot about it. We still have some tournaments coming up so all is not lost.”

Former Nescac individual champion Bennett Doherty ’18 shot a 156 for the weekend. Doherty followed the round one–round two improvement narrative of Giguere, but Doherty’s improvement was even more pronounced given that he bounced back from a round in which he shot 82 on Saturday with a 74 on Sunday.

Joe Ko ’18 shot a 163 for the weekend and also saw a five shot improvement from his 84 on Saturday to when he turned in a 79 on Sunday. Ko’s scores were slightly higher than they have been in his last several weeks of solid play. Likewise, David McDaniel ’19 recorded scores that were slightly higher than his trajectory indicated he might perform, as he shot rounds of 82 and 83. First-year Jordan Bessalel ’21 also saw action and shot a 169 for the weekend with rounds of 85 and 84.

Looking ahead, the women’s team will look to seize on their momentum as they head into this weekend’s Nescac championship on Oct. 7 and 8 at Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Massachusetts.