Strong second day jumps Tufts to ninth place finish at NEIGA Championship

Tufts scored third-highest amongst all Div. III teams on Monday to finish ninth at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association (NEIGA) Championship. The two-day tournament was held in Brewster, Mass. Sophomore Taylor Nordan led the Jumbos on Monday with a score of 73, which tied for the best Div. III round of the day.

Nordan’s score of 73 on Monday, combined with his Sunday round of 80 for a total of 153, led the Jumbos over the two-day tournament. Junior Owen Elliott and senior co-captain Brendan Koh both came just under 80 on Monday, each shooting a score 79. Elliott shot 76 on Sunday, totaling to 155, and Koh shot 84 the first day, totaling to 163. Sophomore Glenn VanWinkle also scored for Tufts on both days of competition with an 84 on Sunday and an 81 on Monday for a total of 165.

There were no extraneous factors that helped Nordan and the rest of the Jumbos shoot lower scores on the second day.

“We just didn’t play well that first day,” coach George Pendergast said. “The conditions were a little chilly but fine. A couple of the guys at the back end, three, four, five, just didn’t play that well. I don’t think it was nerves. It might have been [because] we didn’t have a tournament for three weeks, so there might have been a little rust there. The second day they just started making better shots and were putting better. The second day was really who we are.”

Nordan finished just one place shy of qualifying for All-New England honors, which go to the top six finishers.

“Taylor is just a really talented golfer,” Pendergast said. “He’s just a little more disciplined, and he practices really hard and strives to improve himself. He shot a 73 in the second round, but that easily could have been a score in the 60s. He missed a couple of putts and mishit a couple of chips but still hit the ball great yesterday. His score was great but could have been even better.”

Tufts tied for 17th among the 37 Div. I, II and III schools that competed at the NEIGA Championship. Div. I Bryant University shot a total of 608 to win the overall championship, and Rhode Island College won the Div. III championship with a score of 618 for a repeat victory after winning the championship last year as well.Following Rhode Island College were Salem State University and Babson College, which each scored 624 to tie for second.The only other NESCAC school that competed was Bates, coming in 20th place with a score of 671.

Senior Jonathan Cooper of Rhode Island College finished with the best score of the tournament in Div. III play with a 147 over the two days. First-year Daulton Wickenden of Husson University and junior Zachary Temple of Castleton University shot 148 and 149, respectively, and followed Cooper in the standings.

“The fall season was fun, and I think the team has a lot of work to do,” Nordan said. “We’re looking forward to the next season."

Nordan joins Elliott as one of Tufts' top two golfers this season.

“Owen and Taylor have really been solid at one and two this season,” Pendergast said. “We’re really lucky to have them both here. I think we’re having a pretty good recruiting year, so we should be pretty strong next year. With all the injuries we had this season, we really did not have any depth to choose from for our tournaments. What I am looking forward to is a larger pool of talent to choose from and [having] the kids be able to push each other on a competitive level to make themselves better. I think we’ll have that next year, and I am really excited about it.”

The golf team will continue their season this spring.