After a strong showing during the first day of the NESCAC Tournament at Bowdoin College, in which the Cards were within a stroke of eventual-champion Middlebury, the men’s golf team came back on Sunday with a weak showing and finished 8th of the 10 teams at the tournament.

The course at Bowdoin was set up to be as challenging as possible, as the winner this year will receive an automatic bid to compete in the Division III NCAA Tournament. The greens were groomed to be extremely fast, so any slight touch would send the ball a long distance. Additionally, the pins were located in challenging spots on the course, putting additional pressure on all teams. Despite the difficult course, the Cards were only 10 strokes out of the lead.

“We were excited [about the score] and really tried to come back on Sunday with our all,” said Eli Wilson ’09.

On Sunday, the tough course took its toll, and Wesleyan ended up with the score of 652 for the tournament, good enough for 8th place of the 10 teams. Middlebury, which had been ahead of the Cards by a razor-thin one-shot margin after day one, won the tournament with the score of 618, tying Trinity but prevailing on the tie-breaking criteria.

Team captain Dave Velardo ’08 had a solid weekend, despite dropping four spots off his individual finish at last year’s tournament, placing 17th of 50 at the tournament as he put up a 77-81-158 stroke count. Last year Velardo shot a 156, which was good enough for 13th at the tournament and second-team all-NESCAC honors.

“I played alright on Saturday and not as well Sunday,” Velardo said. “I just haven’t been able to piece together low rounds yet like I did last year a few times.”

On Thursday, the golf team faced off in a four-way battle against Rhode Island College, Brandeis, and Wentworth at Rhode Island College. The Cards finished in second place, behind Rhode Island, as the squad finished five strokes ahead of Wentworth and 13 strokes ahead of Brandeis.

Wilson posted the Cards’ best score, as he shot a round of 77, the sixth time he recorded a score under 80. Right behind Wilson was Velardo, who shot his way to a 78. Rounding out the scores for the Cards were Rob McCourt ’08, who shot a score of 80, John Eshelman ’08, and Andrew Edge ’08, who posted an 84 and 93, respectively.

The golf team’s next action will be at the New England Championships in Brewster, Mass. on Oct. 23.