BREWSTER - The Tufts Golf team scored third-best among Division III teams during Monday's round at the 81st Annual New England Intercollegiate Golf Association (NEIGA) Championship. That placed the Jumbos in a tie for ninth overall at the two-day tournament.
The Jumbos' four-best scores totaled 312 on Monday, with only Salem State's 304 and Rhode Island College's 311 lower. Southern Maine also had a 312 score on Monday. Added to their 324 total from Sunday, the Jumbos finished with a 636 total to tie for ninth place out of 22 Division III teams overall. Head coach George Pendergast's Tufts team jumped five spots from their position tied for 14th after Sunday.
Tufts sophomore Taylor Nordan tied for the lowest Division III round on Monday with a one-over par 73. Husson's Daulton Wickende also shot 73. Nordan's two-day 153, including an 80 on Sunday, was nine-over and tied for seventh individually to lead the Jumbos. He just missed earning All-New England honors, which go to the top six finishers in each division.
Junior Owen Elliott shot 76 to lead Tufts on Sunday and added a 79 on Monday for a 155 total. That was 11 over par and tied for 15th indivudally out of 110 golfers total. Senior co-captain Brendan Koh was the third Jumbo under 80 on Monday also with a 79. He shot 84 on Sunday and totaled 163 for the tournament.
Sophomore Glenn VanWinkle also scored on both days for Tufts. His 81 on Monday was three strokes better than his 84 on Sunday and gave him a 165 total.
Teams from 37 colleges and universities across New England and New York gathered at The Captains Course in Brewster for the tournament. Division I Bryant University shot a two-day total of 608 to win the overall championship. Rhode Island College went back-to-back as Division III champs with a two-day total of 618.
The Anchormen made up a two-shot deficit thanks in part to DIII medalist Jonathan Cooper who finished with a two-day total of 147 to win by a stroke.
Bentley's Malcolm Oliver, who shot 75 on day 1 and trailed the overall leader by five strokes, shot a five-under par 67 on the Port Course in the final round to become the first NEIGA repeat champion since former PGA Tour and Bryant University alum Jim Hallet won five consecutive times from 1981-83. The NEIGA event was held in both the fall and spring during that time. Oliver's winning two-day score was a two-under 142.
Tufts tied for 17th among the 37 Division I, II and III schools overall. The NEIGA Championship was the last event of the fall for the Jumbos. Their season will resume in the spring.
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