Ephs finish 5th out of 13 at Skidmore Tourney

Rick Pohle's Eph golfers improved seven shots over their first day effort at the Skidmore Tourney and yet they fell two spots in the final standings to finish fifth out of 13 teams. NYU and Hobart moved ahead of the Ephs with strong second day performances. Host Skidmore won the event going away with a second round score of  286 to go with their 284 first round and tallied a two-day total of 570 to win by 32 shots over NYU.

Williams opened play yesterday with a team score of 310 and toured the Saratoga Spa State Park, par 72, 6,950-yard layout in 303 today in rainy conditions.

Last year the Ephs were plagued by playing well on the first day of a tournament and not playing as well or improving on day two, but that was not the case the first weekend of 2007. "Considering that most of the teams have been practicing longer than we have I thought we performed well and I was pleased that we played better today than we did yesterday, which wasn't always the case last year," said Pohle.

Even better for Pohle and the Eph program, only one of the five competitors at this event is a senior, Brendan Conley, and three of the competitors showed they are not intimidated by playing in college as first years.

First year Jack Killea fired a one over par 73 to lead the Ephs today and his two-day total of 152 placed him in a tie for 20th. Killea showed the largest improvement of any Eph from day one to day two with a six-shot improvement and three other Ephs notched five-shot improvements.

Ever steady junior Tyler Zara carded his second straight 75 and finished in a tie for 14th with a total of 150. First year Jake Wagner chopped five shots off his first round score of 80 and posted a 75. His two-day total of 155 put him in a tie for 30th.

Brendan Conley fired a 76 today after opening the event with an 81. His two-day total of 157 tied him for 39th place.

First year Drew Murray also clipped five shots off his first day score, coming in with a 79 today. Murray finished tied for 54th place with a total of 163.

"We have great promise," said Pohle. "Jack Killea is a solid player, Brendan [Conley] struggled yesterday, but struck the ball very well today, Tyler Zara is a competitor who just gets the job done and Jake Wagner showed he's a competitor as did Drew Murray who shook off a tough first nine yesterday to shoot well over the last 27 holes,. We have players who if they give up a shot have the ability to get it back with a birdie."

The Ephs will next see action on Saturday and Sunday when they travel to Middlebury College to compete in the Duke Nelson Tournament.