On a crisp New England fall weekend, the Amherst men’s golf team traveled to NESCAC archrival Williams to take part in the Williams Fall Invitational. Pitted against a field of 18 other top New England programs, including several NESCAC foes, the purple and white finished a strong sixth with a two-day total of 625.

Amherst started the tournament impressively, shooting a 305 on Saturday, which was good for third place. The purple and white managed to get strong rounds from all four of the team’s scoring golfers, including a 73 from Sam Procter ’18, a 76 from Jack Burlison ’19 and 78 from both Liam Fine ’17 and Dan Langa ’18.

“We showed a bit of what we’re capable of the first day and Sam Procter lead the way for us,” Burlison said.

Amherst faded slightly on the second day of competition, with the team shooting a 320, only good for the seventh-best Sunday score. There were bright spots in the day’s hardships, however as first-year Cameron Clark shot an impressive four-over-par 75 to lead the purple and white squad in scoring on its second day of play.

Even though the team finished sixth overall behind NESCAC giants Williams and Trinity, its impressive two day team score (305-320) allowed Amherst to beat out several major conference opponents including Bowdoin and Wesleyan.
The purple and white have already moved on to their next challenge, this weekend’s NESCAC qualifiers.

“Now we’re just looking forward to cranking it up at NESCAC championship qualifying this next weekend,” Burlison said about the team’s upcoming competitions.

The first day of NESCAC championship tournament play begins this Saturday Oct. 1 at 1 p.m. and continues on Sunday at 9 a.m., with both rounds being hosted by reigning NESCAC champions, Middlebury.