St. Lawrence University won the tournament with a dazzling 310 performance, besting their nearest rival, host Skidmore, by seven shots. Williams and Hamilton Colleges led the way for the NESCAC with identical scores of 323, good for a share of fourth place.
The Panthers of Middlebury College also participated, finishing a disappointing 16th.
Sophomore Mike Valentine led Amherst with an impressive score of 79. Valentine just missed out on breaking into the top 10 as he finished tied for 11th place individually.
One over par through 16 holes of golf, Valentine was in serious contention for the individual title before he got a bad bounce on his tee shot on the par-3 17th. A rough outing on the 17th combined with a double bogey on the 18th forced Valentine to settle for a solid, though disappointing, round of 79.
Justin Sharaf '05, the team's most consistent golfer in the fall, finished second on the team with a round of 83.
First year Keith Zalaski, senior co-captain Todd Ballaban and freshman David Litt rounded out the Amherst top five with rounds of 86, 91 and 96, respectively.
Team members cited very inconsistent sand traps as one of the toughest aspects of the course. Poor bunker play cost the Jeffs several crucial strokes.
The Jeffs were without the services of senior co-captain Jude Volek who has been busy this spring working on his thesis.
"Overall, it was a disappointing tournament for the team," said Valentine. "But we are looking forward to the upcoming tournaments, to improving as a team and contending for a title."
The Jeffs will tee off again this Thursday at the Lou Flumere Invitational hosted by Bentley College. This tournament will serve as a tune-up for this weekend's District 1 Championships hosted by Williams at their renowned Taconic Golf Club.