The Justice

Jeff Stein '08 tees off during practice Thursday. The Judges' sixth-place finish at the ECAC New England Championships was the best in school history. Hsiao-Chi Pang/the Justice

Just three weeks ago at the Duke Nelson Invitational, only two players on the golf team were able to shoot a score better than 80 strokes. With four players accomplishing that feat at this weekend's East Coast Athletic Conference New England championships, it only made sense that a historic finish awaited.

Led by two sub-80 rounds from Charles Sacks '11, Dan Shani '08 and Alex Botwick '08, as well as one from Lee Bloom '10, the golf team earned a sixth-place position out of 15 teams, the highest finish at that event in school history. The Judges finished with an aggregate score of 625, just one stroke behind three teams that finished in a tie for third. The performance comes on the heels of a second-place finish out of 10 teams at the Elms College Invitational last Tuesday, in which four of the five starters shot an 80 or better.

"We're working hard to continue bringing Brandeis a good name," Bloom said. "We're definitely playing with a chip on [our] shoulder."

Coach Bill Shipman was particularly impressed with the consistency displayed by all of the Judges' players throughout the tournament.

"The pressure is on when you're competing against the best teams," Shipman said. "But, we've been practicing hard, and hopefully we'll continue to play our best under those conditions."

Trinity College finished in first place with an aggregate score of 599, eight strokes ahead of second-place Nichols College.

The University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Johnson and Wales University and Springfield College all tied for third with aggregate scores of 624, one stroke better than Brandeis.

Charles Sacks '11 led the way with a two-day score of 12-over par 154, firing a seven-over-par 78 Sunday to go along with a five-over-par 76 Saturday. About the only thing that went wrong for Sacks was a triple-bogey on the 16th hole Sunday, but he was able to rebound to stay below 80 strokes for the round.

"I could have easily taken a bogey on the 16th hole, but tried to force a shot and ended up making a triple," Sacks said. "The odds were clearly not in my favor, and I should have tried for a more conservative shot."

Continued...

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