The men finished a mediocre 14th back out of a 21-team field at the Williams Invitational in Williamstown, hosted by their NESCAC and Little III rival Williams College.
The Ephs went on to take the tournament on the strength of a fabulous 293-290-583 team total. In addition, the Eph individual leader's two-day total set a new course record.
Captain Mike Blaisdell '02 led the team. Blaisdell paced the Jeffs with a two-day score of 79-76 for a total of 155 for the weekend. Jude Volek '03 followed closely with a mark of 78-78 and a total of 156.
Meanwhile, the Amherst women's team faced another difficult challenge, this time in southern Connecticut. The only Division III team represented at the Yale Invitational, hosted by New Haven's Yale University, the women's golf team finished in 17th place out of 17 teams.
"As a team it was our first tournament of the season, so we just tried to get back into tournament play. Yale's one of the toughest tournaments we play all year, so it was more of a mental test than a physical test," said standout Jeff Kathryn Kuchefski '04. "It was hard to open up with such a tough tournament, and we now can see what we need to work on."
Kuchefski was the standard bearer for the women's side, shooting team-low rounds of 87 strokes on both days, for a total of 174 to lead the Jeffs. She was followed by Sarah Godwin '05 and Captain Jamie Ratner '02, who both finished with a total score of 187 on the weekend.
Both teams now have their sights on the NESCAC Championship Tournament, to be hosted by Williams College, which will take place this weekend. The women, however, will split their squad into two, with one team heading for the NESCAC Tournament and the other team to the nearby Mount Holyoke Invitational in South Hadley.
"We're the only school with an official varsity team in the NESCAC. That's why we play so many Division I tournaments," said Kuchefski. "It will be nice for us to play in the NESCAC because on a Division III level we do real nicely. We can win on a Division III level."