Ephs 4th after 1st day at NESCACs

Ephs 4th after first day of NESCAC Men's Golf Championships Qualifier

CLINTON, NY – Rick Pohle's Ephs were hot and cold on the first day of the two-day NESCAC Tournament being played at the Skenandoa Club and find themselves in fourth place, eight shots behind leader Trinity.

Trinity posted a team score of 301 with the Bantams' Reid Longley carding the day's lowest round with a one-under 71. Williams shot 309, while Middlebury (302) is second and host Hamilton is third (307). Par is 72 on the 6,653-yard Skenandoa layout.  

First year Jack Killea posted the best Eph score with a 75, followed by classmates Jake Wagner (76) and Bob Camp (79), senior Brendan Conley also shot a 79 and junior Tyler Zara had an uncharacteristic 82.

"We played erratically today and lost a bit of confidence on the greens," said Pohle. "I think we suffered a bit of a letdown because of high expectations, but I am sure we will play much better tomorrow. We can't lose sight that the goal is to finish in the top four to qualify for the NESCAC Championship - although hosting the event by winning this tournament would be a big plus."

The top four teams at this event will square off in the spring at the home course of the top team this weekend to determine who will earn the NESCAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in May of 2008.

"We have enough talent to win the NCAA bid in the spring no matter where we play," said Pohle. "We need to let things unfold during tomorrow's round. I think we need to relax a little bit and realize that not every shot has to be perfect to put up a respectable
score."

The Ephs hold an eight shot lead over fifth place Tufts, but instead of looking back they will be looking forward to secure a spot in the NESCAC Tournament in the spring.


2007 NESCAC Championships Qualifier
Skenandoa Club (Clinton, N.Y.)
Sept. 29
Par - 72; Yards - 6,563

TEAM SCORES
1. Trinity 301
2. Middlebury 302
3. Hamilton 307
4. Williams 309
5. Tufts 317
6. Amherst 320
7. Bates 321
8. Bowdoin 322
9. Wesleyan 326
10. Colby 329

1st round medalist: Reid Longley, Trinity, 71

TRINITY (301)
James Driscoll 78
Reid Longley 71
Josh Biren 79
David Anderson 78
Josh Grossman 74

MIDDLEBURY (302)
George Baumann 72
Harrison Bane 77
Michael McCormick 79
Brian Cady 79
Jeff Patterson 74

HAMILTON (307)
Mike Hayes 79
Brad Roche 73
Dave Christie 79
Jeff Corbett 76
Phil Preiss 80

WILLIAMS (309)
Tyler Zara 82
John Killea 75
Robert Camp 79
Brendan Conley 79
Jacob Wagner 76

TUFTS (317)
David Hunt 74
Pat Sullivan 79
Luke Heffernan 88
Mike O'Neil 85
Phil Haslett 79

AMHERST (320)
Chris Valentine 79
Trip Wray 76
Adam Shniderman 88
Will Collins 82
Judd Olanoff 83

BATES (321)
Kurt Schuler 77
Mike Kelen 83
Jake Cox 81
Jeremy Rogalski 85
Tom Bowden 80

BOWDOIN (322)
Ryan Blossom 74
Jeff Cutter 79
Turner Kufe 83
James Yoo 96
Kevin Smith 86

WESLEYAN (326)
David Velardo 80
Dan De Rienzo 81
Eli Wilson 83
Max Schenkein 84
Rob McCourt 82

COLBY (329)
Gus Thompson 73
Hans Noering 85
Sam Rouleau 90
John Wagner 84
Nick Spillane 87