Though there are likely 1,000 ways for a team to kick off its quest for a bid to Nationals, probably none is more unappealing than how the men's golf team christened its season Thursday at the 31st annual Lou Flumere Invitational hosted by Bently College. Perhaps sophomore David Litt put it best: "It was definitely disappointing the way we finished. I mean there's no way around that."

First-year Andy Bruns remains optimistic, maintaining that "there's a lot of golf left to be played."

Amherst can be thankful for that. Nary a Jeff cracked 80 on the sloppy, rain-soaked course at Stow Acres Country Club, and Amherst's team score of 338 left the Jeffs in 14th place, some 34 strokes back of winner UMass-Dartmouth. "It's definitely not the way you want to start out the season," said Bruns. 

First-year Sean Jules provided the Jeffs' lone highlight. After getting off to a slow start with a 45 on the back nine (after teeing off on eight), Jules finished with a bang: eagle, par, birdie. As impressive as his eagle looks, it doesn't even tell the whole story. His second shot on the par-five, 501-yard fifth hole lipped out; that's how close he came to the elusive albatross. He converted a short put for eagle.

Despite that stellar finish, Jules still shot 80. It was that sort of day for the Jeffs, who saw traditionally mediocre teams dominate them. "The teams that got us probably weren't the ones that we were watching coming into the tournament," explained Bruns. UMass-Dartmouth captured the win, and perennially middling Bryant College and MIT finished second and third, respectively.

Litt explained the surprising turn of events as a function of inexperience and rust. "Though UMass-Dartmouth is a good team, our team didn't have a whole lot of experience playing [Stow Acres]; only two out of five had," he said. "Playing golf in the Northeast, we just haven't been able to get in any sort of groove practicing. In golf more than any other sport, time off shows rust," Litt added.

Junior captain Justin Sharaf certainly looked rusty, at least around the greens. Despite a decent ball striking round, he three-putted five times en route to a sub-par 83, while sophomore Keith Zalaski turned in an 87 and Litt finished with an 88.

Bruns, whose score did not count toward the Amherst aggregate, posted a 91. "We were all pretty rusty," he said, echoing Litt.

Of his individual struggles, Litt admitted, "I don't have my swing right now. The way my swing is, it takes some time for me to get my timing back at the beginning of a season. I just really need to work harder on my game the next couple days before this weekend."

If Amherst is to stand a chance at the Williams Opener on Saturday, Litt and company must not just work harder on their games; they must also produce results. But there is no reason to believe they can't. Unlike at the Lou Flumere, this weekend at Taconic, "everyone gets to see a course that they are familiar with," said Litt. Pleasantly familiar with, that is; Taconic Golf Course was the site of the NESCAC Championships and the Jeffs' best performance in recent memory in the fall. All five golfers shot 80 or below. After competing at Williams, the Jeffs will travel to Skidmore on Sunday for the two-day Skidmore Invitational.