Contact Information
The Spectator
Golf Team Fights Through Harsh Conditions
by Kendall Weir '12Sports Writer
October 02, 2009
The road to the NESCAC championship has taken a detour. Taconic Golf Club on the Williams College campus has been a site of the fall NESCAC tournament a number of times. Up until last week, it was supposed to hold this fall's NESCAC tournament over the weekend of October 3. However, due to a series of brutal weather conditions, Taconic was forced by the USGA to close seven out of eighteen greens.
Since then, the closed greens have shown only subtle improvement, so the club recently closed the rest of the greens. As a result, the NESCAC fall tournament will be played at Waubeeka Golf Links in South Williamstown, Massachusetts instead - a course Hamilton has never played on.
"It's new for everybody. We still have to execute, but our minds are set on taking it one shot at a time and letting the numbers take care of themselves" said captain Brad Roche '11.
Some say this switch will level teams' chances at qualifying for the NESCAC finals, considering most teams have never played at Waubeeka. The top four teams at Waubeeka will advance to the NESCAC finals, which will be held next spring.
Surprisingly, only Trinity College and Skidmore College dropped out of Williams College's fall invitational. Despite the closing of seven greens, a total of seventeen teams competed. The Continentals debated between dropping out and playing in the tournament, and in the end decided to send five individuals to Williams.
Playing five individuals means the team did not technically compete in the team tournament, but five players played mostly to gain experience.
Coach Highducheck sent this lineup to acclimate many of the players with travelling to tournaments, and this opportunity was a valuable way for the team to compete in a low-pressure environment. The regular starters agreed that sending the the other part of the roster was a good idea.
Brad Roche '11 said "It was a great opportunity for some of the guys who don't get a chance to travel."
Because seven of Taconic's greens were closed, the groundskeepers were forced to make seven temporary greens. The temporary greens were small painted circles in the end of each fairway. Most of them were tiny, so the groundskeepers' staff put significantly larger than normal cups on the makeshift greens to compensate for the size of the greens. It was an ongoing joke throughout the weekend that it was tough to miss any putt on the "buckets."
Scott Blosser '12 led the Continentals with rounds of 78-77 for a two day total of 155. The team's totals of 316-313 were not anywhere near the top of the leader board, but every player took valuable experience away from the weekend.
"I felt I played well at Williams. I was excited to contribute to our team's success and I look forward to helping our team throughout the rest of the season" said Riley Jorgensen '11. He shot 81-77 at Taconic.
However, players were still frustrated with the harsh conditions of the course, as most would expect.
"The greens were so slow that I had to take out a 9 iron just to reach the back of the greens from the front" said Hans Schulte '13.
This past weekend, the team's starters traveled to Middlebury College, the site of last year's NESCAC finals. Despite some nasty weather conditions, Salem State University won the tournament. The Continentals' team totals of 327-311 resulted in a tie for seventh out of 21 total teams.
L.J. Scurfield '12 said "It was windy as a hurricane on Saturday and rainy as Seattle on Sunday."
Despite the seventh place finish, the team experienced several positives this weekend. Scurfield, one of last year's stars, has been out with an injury and competed for the first time all year. Schulte played as the team's individual and tied Blosser with the team-low, two-day total of 156. The team will travel to Williams College the first weekend in October for the NESCAC team tournament, and the following weekend Hamilton will host its fall invitational.