Golf teams turn in solid effort at Williams

Both Middlebury’s golf teams were in competition at Williams College’s Taconic Golf Course this past weekend in Williamstown, Mass. The men’s team vied for the NESCAC championship, while the women’s team competed in the annual Williams Invitational. Under the gorgeous, sunny spring skies, the women’s team played well, but finished in a disappointing tenth place. Meanwhile the men had a big weekend, managing to place second in the NESCAC tournament.

In the women’s Williams Invitational, the Panthers struggled to find consistency in the two rounds. Flora Weeks ’12 and Keely Levins ’13 tied for fourth place, once again leading the Panthers on the scorecard. Both underclassmen shot a 75 on Saturday and 78 on Sunday for a combined two-day score of 153. The two finished just two strokes behind the eventual winner, Amherst’s Hayley Milbourn, who defeated runner-up Kimberly Eaton of Wellesley in a one-hole playoff on Sunday afternoon.

Amherst won the tournament on the back of Milbourn’s performance with an overall team score of 626, two strokes ahead of second place Williams. Milbourn even added a hole-in-one on Sunday to help secure the victory. This win marks Amherst’s eighth of the season, as the Lord Jeffs enter the NCAA tournament ranked seventh nationally. The Panthers finish the year with high expectations for next season. Although the team had difficulties scoring well consistenly, several young players showed tremendous promise.

“We are a young team, but the scores themselves show significant progress made this year,” said Levins, a first-year that consistently placed among the top five in competition this year. And with more experience, the team will look to establish itself among the best in the NESCAC next season.

On the men’s side, four NESCAC teams, having qualified in the fall for the tournament, played this weekend for year-long bragging rights and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. This year, Williams, Middlebury, Trinity and Hamilton played at Williams College for the championship. Trinity, who was able to exact a little revenge after losing to Middlebury in a tiebreaker last year, dominated the event with a two-day team score of 593, 16 strokes ahead of the second-place Panthers.

Trinity’s sophomore stud, Alex Bermingham, won the tournament with a 3-under par 68 on Saturday and a solid 75 on Sunday.

However, the Panthers made a valiant comeback effort that saw two Middlebury players battling for second place. Brian Cady ’11 and Jimmy Levins ’11, who helped lead Middlebury to victory in last year’s NESCAC championship, tied for second place with two-day scores of 146. Brian Cady shot Sunday’s low score with a 1-under par 70 as a part of the Panther’s late effort.

“I’ve played the course a bunch of times,” said Cady. “I sort of know which holes to go after. And when we started striking the ball well and putts began falling, the scores followed.”

The Panthers also had to battle a bit of poor luck, when Jim Levins accidentally moved his ball during Sunday’s play. Levins honorably called the penalty on his own ball and accepted the 2-stroke penalty. Still, Levins shot a 75 and 71 for the weekend to tie Cady in second place.

“The NESCAC is incredibly competitive, so we are glad to have done so well,” said Levins. “Still, we aren’t satisfied with the result. If anything, I’m excited to get back out next year and re-establish ourselves as the best team in the NESCAC.” Indeed, though the team will most likely be left out of the NCAA tournament coming up this spring, the Panthers have high hopes because almost the entire roster will be returning next season.