Jumbos place 13th at Western New Englands

Missing many of it's top golfers due to midterms -- shooting a combined 357 and ending 60 strokes behind the tournament winner, Husson College - the Jumbos finished 13th out of 15 teams at the Western New England Invitational last Thursday. Coach Bob Sheldon decided to go with four players who had not gotten a chance to golf in tournament competition so far this season. Senior Andrew T. Weiss led the Jumbos with a score of 86. Despite finishing first for his team, Weiss was not satisfied.

"I was a little disappointed," Weiss said. "I think everyone was overall."

However, Weiss was glad to get back in the action.

"I went abroad last year, so I didn't get to play. I played some my sophomore year, but it was certainly nice getting in there on Thursday," he said.

Senior Nat Sager, who finished second for Tufts with an 87, echoed Weiss' comments.

"I didn't play that well, but it was a good experience," Sager said. "The greens were not in great shape, which made for some difficult putting, but there are no excuses."

Freshman Dan Patack shot a 90 and sophomore Paul Chase rounded out the scoring for Tufts with a 94.

Sheldon is expecting some contributions from the two underclassmen in the future.

"[Patack and Chase] are pretty good players," Sheldon said. "I expect to see them more in the future."

Chase also felt the tournament was beneficial.

"It was nice to get some more tournament experience," he said. "I had played in this tournament last year, and the course isn't my favorite. It's not that long, but the greens are tough. Overall it was good practice."

The Jumbos are also gearing up for the New England Championships on October 20 and 21.

"Right now, everyone is focusing on what they individually need to work on to be at their best next week," Sheldon said.

This Thursday, according to Sheldon, the team will practice at Belmont Country Club due to its similarity to the Captain's golf course, where they play the New England's.

Tufts is probably going to stick with the lineup it used in the ECAC Championships, consisting of senior Brad Hawes, sophomore Dan Weinbeck, and freshmen Arjun Chawla, Matt Linde, and Justin Meier.

The Jumbos have not fared as well as they had hoped coming into the season. But they are banking on a good performance at the New England's to make up for it all.

Last year, Tufts finished 16th out of 48 teams. The tournament consists of teams from Divisions I, II and III. In order to advance to the national tournament, Tufts must finish in the top three for Division III schools.

"It's nice for the guys to be able to go up against teams from those upper divisions," Sheldon said. "It should give them some excellent competition."

Sheldon is taking a wait and see approach when it comes to the expectations for his team.

"We're not setting any goals quite yet," Sheldon said. "We're going to see how the guys are playing this coming week and we'll go from there."