Soggy weather at the Taconic Golf Course in Williamstown prevented play on Saturday, but the Jeffs got down to business on Sunday. They posted a composite 327, 24 strokes behind tournament winner University of Rochester, but ahead of NESCAC rivals Wesleyan University and Hamilton and Trinity Colleges.
Senior captain Justin Sharaf continued his hot start to the season by shooting his third consecutive sub-80 round, an eight-over par 79, good enough to tie for 26th in a field of 119 golfers. Sean Jules '07 and Keith Zalaski '06 were not far behind, posting scores of 81 and 83, respectively. Junior David Litt, one of team's most consistent contributors last season, proved that he was well on his way to finding his form with an 84.
Though these scores are respectable, the team will have to improve to catch Middlebury and Williams Colleges next week at the NESCAC Championships. The Panthers are certainly within reach, as they finished just three strokes ahead of the Jeffs, but the Ephs, who finished second with a composite score of 305, could be harder to overtake. To do so, the Jeffs will need more consistent play from the players behind Sharaf, including Andy Bruns '07, who had the second-best score on the team in the season opener but shot a disappointing 88 on Sunday. If Bruns, Litt and Jules all find their swings on the same weekend, the Jeffs will be a threat to beat anyone in the NESCAC; in the first two tournaments of the year, however, that hasn't been the case.
"We just are not playing to our potential. Hopefully we can get things together and repeat our strong performance at NESCACs," said Litt.
The team will have another crack at Williams and Middlebury next weekend at the Duke Nelson Invitational, which will double as the NESCAC Championships.