After graduating just one player from a team that finished second in the NESCAC Championships a year earlier, Amherst came into its fall slate anticipating a battle with Williams College for tops in the conference. Despite several excellent individual performances and the emergence of sophomore Sean Jules as one of the team's best players, the story of the fall season was inconsistent team play as the Jeffs fell short of their early expectations.

The season-opening Northeast Preview Tournament set the tone for the rest of the fall, as the Jeffs placed ninth out of the 10 teams competing, but more importantly, finished 31 strokes behind the the Ephs, the only other NESCAC squad competing. Senior captain Justin Sharaf had a stellar tournament, finishing third in the individual scoring, but the remaining two-thirds of the team's leading trio-Jules and Andy Bruns '07-were unable to follow suit. Each posted one round in the 70s and another in the mid-to-high 80s. This inconsistency would become a theme for the year as Sharaf, Bruns and Jules were never able to put it together and all shoot well at the same tournament. "It just seemed like it never really came together. We didn't have any consistent rounds as a team," said Keith Zalaski '06, one of the team's more consistent role players.

The next week at the Williams Invitational, the Jeffs got their second shot at the Ephs, but again fell short, placing 14th and losing to Williams by 22 shots. While Sharaf and Jules both had decent team-leading rounds of 79 and 81, respectively, Bruns was not his usual self, shooting an 88 and finishing fifth on the team.

Despite the poor play heading into the NESCAC Championships, the Jeffs were able to rebound, and Jules, Sharaf and Bruns finished one-two-three for the first time all season, with Jules finishing second in the individual standings and garnering First-Team All-NESCAC honors for the second consecutive season. Sharaf finished sixth individually and earned Second-Team All-NESCAC accolades, also for the second consecutive year. Amherst placed a respectable fourth out of the 10 teams competing as Williams won once again.

The Jeffs will take a break during the winter, but they are eagerly looking forward to redeeming themselves in the spring season when they play five more tournaments. The team could get a boost from first-years Judd Olanoff and Jesse Corradi, who did not play significant amounts in the fall. "We'll be better in the in the spring; I think the freshman guys are going to help," said Zalaski. "It was hard for them to step right in and play."

The team will need all the help it can get this spring to compete for tournament victories, including the Little Three Championship against Williams and Wesleyan University. "If we got a win against Williams that would be great, especially at their place. Last year we were really close to taking them down," said Zalaski.