After its third place finish at the 2016 NESCAC championships, the Amherst men’s golf team returns to the course for the fall 2016 season with fresh talent looking to jumpstart a record-breaking year. In a pivotal move by the program, the men’s golf team will be doubling in size for its 2016-2017 season. Losing two members of the class of 2016, Patrick Arena and James Line, brought the squad down to six returning players, but they will be adding seven new first-years to round out the team at an impressive 13.

The new and returning players will all be in good hands under the watchful eyes of veteran head coach Jack Arena, who enters his 23rd season coaching Amherst men’s golf. Assistant coach E.J. Mills and captain Liam Fine ’17 also return in leadership positions for the purple and white.

Standouts from last year include Jack Burlison ’19 and Dan Langa ’18. Burlison was named first team all-NESCAC after his outstanding play at the NESCAC qualifier, hosted by Williams. The incoming sophomore registered a day two round of 72 and finished with a total of 152 to put him in third-place overall for the tournament. Langa also garnered all-NESCAC honors for his play in the qualifying tournament after finishing just two shots behind Burlison for a second-team selection.
Amherst men’s golf has won eight NESCAC titles but is looking for its first conference crown since 1997. Burlison conveyed that the squad is eager for the season to start, having taken “some steps in the right direction last year” but indicated that the plethora of fresh talent will help the program “make even bigger strides this year.”

The team’s fall program will consist of three invitational tournaments in September, hosted by NESCAC competition, Trinity, Middlebury and Williams. The men will then compete in the NESCAC qualifying tournament during the first weekend in October in order to qualify the team and individual golfers for the NESCAC tournament in the spring. Rounding out the fall season will be the ECAC Division III Championship Tournament, where the team will have the opportunity to make a big splash competing against some of the most prodigious programs on the East Coast.

Look out for men’s golf’s season opener, the Bill Detrick Invitational on Sept. 10-11 at Trinity in Hartford, Connecticut.