There's a cliche that when things go wrong they really go wrong. This weekend the Amherst golf teams proved the converse is also true. Both teams played to the best of their abilities in a pair of solid efforts.

The men took their drivers to Taconic Golf Course, the home turf of NESCAC rival Williams College, for the NESCAC Invitational and managed a strong second-place finish with a total of 623 strokes. Williams won the tournament for the second straight year.

Captain Mike Blaisdell '02 led the Jeffs with a team best score of 152, in third place overall. His teammate Jude Volek '03 was also hot, hitting for a score of 155 and placing sixth overall. Todd Ballaban '03 was also a key player in the Jeffs' strong day with a 156, good for seventh place overall.

"We were actually expecting to play better. But we were impressed by the improvement over last weekend," said Ballaban. "There are still some things we need to work on, but we played better the first day than the second."

Blaisdell received first team All-NESCAC accolades for his individual efforts. Volek and Ballaban were honored with second team All-NESCAC honors.

The women's golf team was also impressive at the NESCAC Tournament. Jeannie Limpert '03 finished first overall in the NESCAC Individual Women's Golf Tournament, also held at Williams last weekend. She finished with a combined score of 180, just one stroke ahead of fellow Jeff Kasarin Chakkaphak '03, who shot a 181 to finish second.

The other members of the team played at the Mount Holyoke Invitational, finishing fourth out of 20 teams. Central Conn State University won the tournament, with a team score of 662 strokes. The Jeffs were not far behind shooting a team score of 681. Captain Jamie Ratner '02 led the way with a team-best two-day score of 165, finishing fifth overall. She was followed by Meg Sullivan '05 and Kathryn Kuchefski '04, who both shot total scores of 172, tying for 20th place.          

Amherst fans will get their only chance to cheer on the men's golf team this season when they host the TOSKI Invitational, Oct. 7-8. "It's a Division I tournament, and the only reason we're playing is because it's on our course," said Ballaban.

The women will also be in action, playing in the Princeton Invitational on October 6-7.