While the women’s golf team enjoyed a weekend free from competition, the men’s golf team travelled to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to compete in the Joseph C. Palamountain Invitational. The Lord Jeffs had just four representatives at the tournament due to players’ class conflicts on Monday while each of their thirteen competitors had five or six players each. Despite the disadvantage, the Amherst team beat out one school, St. Joseph’s College of Maine, while finishing behind the other twelve.

Men

Though the rest of the field included NESCAC teams Hamilton College, Middlebury College and Williams College (all of whom also beat the Lord Jeffs at last fall’s NESCAC Championships), the limited Amherst contigent finished far behind their conference rivals. The Lord Jeffs’ score of 709 was a distance from their nearest conference opponent, Williams, which posted a 677.

Skidmore especially proved a worthy foe as the Thoroughbreds fielded two teams: the first-place sixsome and third-place fivesome who posted scores of 622 and 643, respectively, in the 36-hole two-day tournament at the par-72 McGregor Links.

The Lord Jeffs can, however, take pride in a huge improvement in their score from Sunday to Monday. While the team finished in last place on day one with a score of 372, it rallied on Monday to post a 337, earning itself 13th place while making the second-largest day-to-day improvement in the field.

All four of the Jeffs’ golfers dropped strokes in their second round. Senior tri-captain Chris Valentine, who finished tied for 38th place in the 76-player field, posted a 94 in the first round and a 77 in the second round. First-year Pete Theiss improved by three strokes from Sunday to Monday with scores of 90 and 87 to earn himself 54th place. Senior tri-captain Glenn Wong was close behind, posting scores of 93 and 86 to tie for 55th place. The Jeffs’ fourth finisher, senior tri-captain Will Collins, improved by eight strokes, from 95 to 87, to finish in a tie for 62nd place.

The Jeffs have two tournaments left on their spring schedule: next week’s Worcester State Invitational and the following week’s Little Three Championships. With a more complete team, the Amherst golfers will look to improve their finish. At NESCACs last September, the Lord Jeffs finished 12 strokes behind the Williams College Ephs and 10 strokes ahead of the Wesleyan University Cardinals, so the tournament should provide plenty of competition.

Women

The women’s team has four tournaments remaining on its schedule, including Friday’s Massachusetts State Championships at Mt. Holyoke College and this weekend’s Jack Leaman Championship, which will be hosted by Amherst.