WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Williams College put together two steady rounds of golf and overcame Hamilton on day two to win the NESCAC Golf Fall Qualifier on Sunday evening at Waubeeka Golf Links. The win guarantees the Ephs the right to host the spring championship event, which will take place on April 24-25, 2010.

Joining Williams and Hamilton at the event will be familiar foes Trinity and Middlebury, as the Bantams and the Panthers rounded out the top four teams at the event.

Hamilton senior Phil Preiss (Lake Forest, Ill.) paced the field with an even-par two day performance of 142. Preiss and junior teammate Brad Roche (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) were tied after day one with identical scores of 71 (Even). Just behind Preiss was Trinity sophomore Alex Bermingham (Bedford, N.Y.), who recoverd from a plus-9 80 on day one by carding the low round on day two, a 67 (-4), for a two-day total of 147 (+5).

A wet and rainy Saturday morning forced the delay of the start of the first round at Waubeeka by an hour and 10 minutes. The pushback prevented the final wave of Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan and Williams from finishing their day on Saturday and forced the first round to be completed on Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. When the round was finally completed, Hamilton was atop the leaderboard with a score of 291, followed by Williams in second (297), Tufts in third (300), and defending champion Middlebury in fourth (305).

Bad weather on Saturday gave way to beautiful playing conditions on Sunday. The best round of the day went to Trinity, as the Bantams shaved 15 strokes off their day one total of 309 and put them in third place. The Ephs showed consistency at Waubeeka and it paid off. Williams fired a 298 total on day two, and that combined with Hamilton's 306 gave the Ephs the ability to host next spring.

Although Tufts had the stellar round of 300 on day one, a poor performance on day two (325) put the Jumbos just outside the top four and a shot at competing for the 2010 NESCAC title. It is the fourth time the Jumbos have finished fifth at the fall conference event since placing second at the 2002 championship.

Colby tied for sixth with Amherst (628), the best finish for the Mules since a seventh-place showing at the rain-shortened 2003 championship at Hamilton.

Team Results
Individual Results

2010 NESCAC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Qualifier: Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 3-4, 2009,
at Waubeeka Golf Links, South Williamstown, Mass.
Hosted by Williams College

Championship: Saturday-Sunday, April 24-25, 2010, at Williams