Trinity Begins Golf Title Defense This Weekend
Top Four Finishers at Fall Qualifier Will Compete for Title in April
HADLEY, Mass. – Trinity College will begin the defense of
its first NESCAC crown this weekend when the Bantams host the
NESCAC Golf Championship Qualifier at Shuttle
Meadow Country Club in Kensington, Conn. The two-day,
36-hole qualifying event will feature all 10 conference teams, and
the highest finisher from this weekend will host the spring
championship round with the top four teams vying for the 2011
NESCAC title. The first group tees off on Saturday, Oct. 2, at
11:00 a.m., and the qualifier concludes on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 11:00
a.m.
After coming oh-so-close to winning the NESCAC championship
multiple times in recent years, the Bantams broke through last
season for their first conference title in the 26-year history of
the event. Trinity finished third at the 2009 fall qualifier, then
went to the Taconic Golf Course in the spring and carded a
blistering 293 for a 15-stroke advantage over the field on day one.
The Bantams continued their impressive play on day two and finished
Sunday’s round with a 305 for a two-day total of 598, 16
strokes ahead of the squad that had denied Trinity the 2006 and
2009 championships via tie-breaker, second-place Middlebury. Having
three of the top five individual finishers at the spring
championship keyed the Bantams’ 2010 title run, however two
of those three linksmen, former NESCAC Players of the Year Reid
Longley and Josh Grossman, graduated this past May. The Bantams
head into the weekend after posting an eighth place performance at
the annual Duke Nelson Invitational at Middlebury on Sept. 18-19
and coming in fifth at the Williams Invitational this past weekend.
Looking to lead a youthful Trinity squad past the determined field
and back to the championship round for the fourth year in a row
will be junior Alex Bermingham (Bedford, N.Y.) and senior Jay
Driscoll (Milton, Mass.). Bermingham, who earned All-NESCAC First
Team honors as a sophomore last fall, finished first at the NESCAC
championship in the spring (145, +3) after leading his team at the
fall qualifier (147, +5) with a second place performance. Driscoll,
himself an All-NESCAC honoree in 2008, completed the spring
championship in a three-way tie for 11th (158, +16). Sophomore Jack
Palley (Pelham, Mass.) will also be one to watch, as he has paced
Trinity at two of its last three outings.
Looking to win the fall qualifier for the second year in a row,
and along with it the right to host the spring championship, will
be a Williams squad that may just be peaking at the right time.
After tying for 13th at the Duke Nelson two weeks ago, the Ephs put
together a dominating performance at the Williams Invitational at
Taconic where they finished first out of a field that featured
eight NESCAC teams, carding a combined 591 - 20 strokes ahead of
second place Middlebury. Williams was propelled to victory thanks
to three top-five individual finishes, as senior Robert Camp
(Raleigh, N.C.) celebrated his birthday on Sunday with a two-under
round of 69 to earn medalist honors (143, +1). The two-time
All-NESCAC selection, who turned in the lowest score for his team
for the second weekend in a row, was joined atop the leader board
at the Williams Invitational by senior Jack Killea (Katy, Texas)
and sophomore Jack Ervasti (Brooklyn, N.Y.). Ervasti tied for
second (+3), just two strokes behind Camp, while Killea, also a
two-time All-NESCAC honoree, came in fifth (146, +4). The trio are
a part of a Williams squad, always know for its talent and depth,
that has won a conference-best 10 titles, including six of the past
10 championships. Last year, the Ephs edged Hamilton by two strokes
(595) at the fall qualifier but came up short in their quest for
another NESCAC championship, finishing fourth in the spring with a
two-day total of 620. Williams’ most recent NESCAC title came
in 2008 when the championship round was held at Shuttle Meadow.
Middlebury heads into the weekend with a bit of momentum of its
own after claiming sixth at the Duke Nelson and tying for second at
the Williams Invitational, and the Panthers will again be among the
challengers for top honors at the fall qualifier this weekend. The
Panthers have been one of the most successful squads in recent
years in NESCAC play, winning two of their three league titles in
2006 and 2008 and finishing second in 2009. Last fall, Middlebury
turned in two steady rounds at the Waubeeka Golf Links and
qualified for the spring championship with a fourth place
performance. The Panthers’ consistency was once again on
display in April, as two-time All-NESCAC recipients Jim Levins
(Rutland, Vt.) and Brian Cady (Rye, N.Y.) led their team to second
(614) by tying for second with scores of 146 (+4). The senior
tandem has been a big part of Middlebury’s success this
season, with Cady pacing the Panthers in each of the last two
weeks. Cady finished tied for eighth at the Duke Nelson with a
score of 150 (+8) and carded a similar score at the Williams
Invitational last weekend, tying for ninth. Levins, who led the
Panthers at their season-opening match at St. Lawrence (148, +4),
was second only to Cady among his teammates at the Williams
Invitational with a two-day total of 153 (+11) and finished tied
for 16th overall. Rookie addition Rob Donahoe (Canton, Mass.) could
be among the challengers for individual honors this weekend. The
first year has performed well at his two outings this fall, coming
in second to Levins at the St. Lawrence Invitational (T-17 153, +9)
and again behind Levins (T-21, 154, +12) at the Williams
Invitational.
Other teams that will be in the hunt for a top four finish this
weekend will be Hamilton, Amherst, Tufts, and Colby. Since the
conference adopted a fall qualifier and spring championship format
in 2007, the Continentals join Middlebury, Trinity and Williams as
the only four teams to have reached the championship round every
year it has been held. Hamilton came within two strokes of hosting
the 2010 finals last October and went on to earn a third place
championship finish. The Continentals have three NESCAC titles to
their credit (1990, 1998, 2003) and three second-place showings
since their last title. In September, Hamilton was the top NESCAC
performer at the Duke Nelson, coming in fourth overall (616), and
placed sixth at the Williams Invitational. Tufts, Amherst and Colby
just missed the cut last fall, and all three teams will be teeing
off in the first wave on Saturday. The Jumbos were third after day
one at Waubeeka but a disappointing day two round of 325 put a shot
at the championship out of reach, as they finished in fifth (625).
Following a tie for 11th at the Duke Nelson, Tufts came away with
eighth at the Williams Invitational. The Lord Jeffs tied with the
Mules for sixth at the 2009 qualifier, as both teams scored 628. It
was the best showing for Colby since a seventh place result at the
rain-shortened 2003 championship. Recently, Amherst has finished
16th at the Duke Nelson and 12th at the Williams Invitational.
While Colby will be leaving Maine for the first time this season
this weekend, the Mules have turned in solid performances,
including third at the Maine State Tournament on Sept. 17-18 and
first out of five teams at the Sid Farr Invitational on Sunday.
Founded by a group of local industrialists in 1917, the Shuttle
Meadow Country Club is located less than 15 miles southwest of
downtown Hartford in Kensington, Conn. The 18-hole course was
designed by Willie Park, Jr., a two-time British Open Champion
(1887, 1889) and renowned Scottish architect with over 170 designs
to his credit throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States. The
course puts shot accuracy at a premium, featuring relatively flat
fairways with greens that are undulating and fast. The scorecard
for the course, which has a rating of 70.4 and a slope rating of
122, is a par-71 that totals 6,325 yards.
Results for the NESCAC Golf Championship Qualifier will be available at the completion of each day at www.nescac.com.
2010 NESCAC GOLF
CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER
at Shuttle Meadow Country Club - Hosted by Trinity
Day One - Saturday, Oct. 2
Wave 1 - Amherst, Colby, Tufts - 11:00 a.m.
Wave 2 - Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity - 11:40 a.m.
Wave 3 - Bates, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Williams - 12:20 p.m.
Day Two - Sunday, Oct.
3
Wave 1 - Three teams with Highest Cumulative Score from Day One -
11:00 a.m.
Wave 2 - Next three teams with Highest Cumulative Score from Day
One - 11:40 a.m.
Wave 3 - Remaining four teams with Lowest Cumulative Score from
Day One - 12:20 p.m.
