Amherst men’s golf capitalized on another impressive second day of competition in the Williams Fall Invitational this weekend, finishing the tournament eighth out of the 19 teams competing. At the end of day one, Amherst was positioned to take ninth place, but after cutting nearly seven strokes off on Sunday, they ended the tournament in eighth.
With plenty of NESCAC teams in attendance, the results could prove to be a preview of this week’s upcoming NESCAC qualifier.
Trinity clinched first place this weekend, followed by Williams in second. The Bantams and the Ephs were the only teams in the field to post scores below 600.
The only other NESCAC team to beat Amherst in the pool of play was Middlebury College, who came in fifth place only nine strokes ahead of the Mammoths.
Nicholas Kumamoto ’20 led the purple and white for the second week in a row after churning out an impressive performance at the Duke Nelson Invitational.
Kumamoto noted, “I feel like Coach has really prepared us for some of these tough courses, and I think I’ve definitely had enough practice where I feel comfortable enough to play consistently well.”
Kumamoto managed to tie for 17th overall with a two day total of 152 points, while fellow sophomore Cameron Clark ’20 was close behind.
Clark tied for 20th with scores of 77 and 76 for a weekend total of 153. Yet another sophomore, Jeffery Herr, shot 155 to finish in 29th place.
“It’s nice to have the younger guys on the team stepping up, but we still need to figure out how we can put two days of play in a row,” senior captain Dan Langa said. “If we can do that, we have as good a chance as anybody to win the qualifier and host NESCACs in the spring.”
The Mammoths’ upcoming qualifier this weekend will be hosted by Trinity, a course that Amherst has already seen this fall. With experience on the course and a burgeoning underclassmen force, confidence and consistency seem to be the only things standing in the way of a successful season for this Amherst squad.
The Amherst men’s golf team will next compete at the NESCAC Qualifier on Saturday, Sept. 30.
