Men’s Golf Returns to Action after Little Three Win with High Hopes

The conclusion of last year’s spring season saw the Amherst men’s golf squad finish a relatively successful campaign with a second-place finish at the NESCAC Championships, hosted by Trinity.

Despite this impressive result, the Mammoths walked away from the tournament feeling as if they let an opportunity for a first NESCAC title since 1997 slip through their fingers.

The Mammoths entered the tournament with a great deal of momentum after the Little Three Championships, battling back from a deficit on the final day of competition to take the team’s first Little Three crown since 2013.

With this at the forefront of each team member’s mind, the NESCAC Championships began auspiciously.

Exiting the first day, Amherst sat atop the NESCAC leaderboard, leading hosts Trinity by two strokes, poised to capture the championship and a potential NCAA tournament berth.

However, the second day saw Amherst fall behind Trinity due to improved play from the Bantams. The Mammoths eventually finished the day and the overall tournament in second place, with the Bantams finishing with a score of 594 to Amherst’s’ 608.

Williams finished one stroke behind the Mammoths with 609 strokes, with Tufts in a distant fourth place with a score of 638.

The Mammoths are well primed in the coming season to again challenge for the NESCAC title, returning 13 members from last year’s team.

Standouts Cameron Clark ’20 and Jack Burlison ’19, both of whom were named to All-NESCAC teams, will lead the team this year.

Clark finished his sophmore year at Amherst with a second consecutive first-team nomination, while Burlison earned second-team honors for a third year running.

The team only welcomed one new golfer to the roster this year, Brian Aslanian ’22, and the rest of the roster is made up of six seniors and seven juniors.

The team will open the fall season with the Trinity Invitational on the weekend of Saturday, Sept 8. The main focus of the fall season, however, will be preparing for the NESCAC Qualifing Tournament on September 31nd, which is the hurdle the team must jump to compete in the spring tournament.