Golf Championship Tees Off Saturday at Williams
Historic Taconic Golf Course Will Play Host for 2005 Championship
HADLEY, Mass. - Williams College, the defending NESCAC Golf Champion and winners of four of the last five NESCAC Golf Tournaments, will serve as host for the 2005 NESCAC Golf Championship this weekend at the famed Taconic Golf Course in Williamstown, Mass. A total of ten teams will compete over the two-day, 36-hole championship, which is slated to begin on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 11:30 a.m. and conclude with an opening tee time of 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2.
Senior Matt Slovitt looks to guide the Ephs to their ninth NESCAC Golf crown this weekend. While Slovitt finished 19th in the 2004 edition of the NESCAC Championship, Slovitt was a medalist at the Duke Nelson Invitational held at Middlebury on Sept. 18 as he helped the Ephs to a first-place finish. Williams though will be without the services of 2004 NESCAC Player and Rookie of the Year Nick Ryder, who finished atop last season’s field with a score of 154.
Looking to avenge a tough loss in the 2004 championship will be Hamilton College, as the 2003 champion Continentals fell short of repeating last year by one stroke to the Ephs. Hamilton brings a strong nucleus to the championship field this weekend, led by 2003 Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Conference First Team selection Chris Pike. The junior Pike is joined by sophomore standout Dan Treichler, who tied for first at the Le Moyne Invitational and currently leads Hamilton with a 77.1 scoring average.
Among the other squads hoping to challenge for this year’s title include Middlebury College, which has finished in the top 10 of its two competitions this year, posting a fifth-place finish at the Duke Nelson Invitational and a ninth-place showing at the Williams Invitational. Wesleyan sophomore Dave Velardo shows promise for the Cardinals this season, after shooting a 69 at the Skidmore Invitational, the lowest round of golf in over 30 years at Wesleyan. Bates, led by junior Jake Cox, enters the fray with a victory in the annual Colby-Bates-Bowdoin tournament, which the Bobcats have claimed in two of the past three seasons.
Nestled in the Berkshire region of Western Massachusetts, the Taconic Golf Course was constructed in 1896 and is rated as one of the top collegiate courses in the country. The par-71, 6,230-yard course has hosted the NESCAC Golf Championship every other year since 1999, alternating with the Ralph Myhre Golf Course on the campus of Middlebury College. The Taconic Golf Course served as the site for the 1999 NCAA Division III Golf Championship.
