Linksmen Finish Second in New England

Author: Jeff Martin

The Middlebury Panther golf team concluded its fall season on Oct. 21 and 22 with another gleaming performance. This time it was a second place finish among Division III teams at the New England (NEIGA) Championships in Brewster, Mass.
The squad capped off its most impressive season in years, perhaps in the College's history, by finishing second at the 68th annual NEIGA Championships. The Panthers' effort placed them eighth overall in a field of 46 teams that even touted Division I programs. Outpacing the Panthers combined rounds of 633 were: Rhode Island (600); Central Connecticut State (605); Hartford University (613); Dartmouth (619); Husson College (627); Bryant College (628); Brown (630). Maine's Husson College won the Division III team aspect of the tournament by six strokes over Middlebury, however the Panthers did boast the Division III medallist in Brad Tufts '03. Tufts' rounds of 72 and 78 (150) also positioned him in a fifth place tie for the best weekend at the NEIGAs. Thomas Rogers of the University of Vermont was the Division I medallist with a pair of two-over 74s.
Besides the phenomenal play of Tufts, the rest of the Panthers also faired well in their culminating fall tournament. Chuck Clement '04 continued his late season surge with rounds of 75 and 80 — good enough for a 17th-place overall finish out of 227 scoring golfers. Damon Gacicia '02.5 shot a 79 on Sunday, while Ryan Simper '03 also pitched in with an 81 on Saturday. Derek Singer '05 participated in his second major tournament, and his strong showing proved that the Panthers possess valuable assets in their up-and- coming young golfers.
As far as conditions at the late October event on Cape Cod, the Panthers seemed relatively pleased. Tufts commented, "The conditions were the best we've had all four of my years, but even that was only 55 degrees, breezy and partly cloudy. The courses they use, Captain's Port and Starboard courses, are always hard when you add the cold, wind, pressure of the biggest tourney of the year and the fact that they both play over 6,700 yards."
The Panthers' tournament performance came at a fortunate time, as they once again defeated 12th-place finishing Williams College. In so doing, the team helped provide validity to a recent Sports Illustrated letter to the editor in which it was suggested that the magazine overlooked Middlebury when it proclaimed Williams as having the strongest athletic program in Division III. Drawing upon the number of national titles won by each school in recent years, the letter advocated that the Panthers sport a superior program than the Ephs. Simper added, "We beat Williams four times: NESCACs, Skidmore, Eph Classic and NEIGAs. Our goal isn't to beat Williams; that's just a positive outcome of playing well."
The team will take a well-deserved break from competition during the upcoming winter months before returning to action for the remainder of their academic season.
Tufts commented on the team's fall campaign, "I don't know if this is best Middlebury golf team that we've ever had, but I bet we would be right up there with the best two or three if we weren't number one. This is the first time we have had seven or eight guys with handicaps under 10 in a long time." Simper further remarked, "Again, its the best season for this group of seniors. I've been told that our team was pretty good in the glory days of our assistant coach, George Phinney, but this seems to be one of the stronger seasons in recent memory. We just need to play a strong spring season and hope to earn a berth in the Division III National Championship tourney in May."
The end of the storied Gacicia Era in Middlebury golf history spurred comments from many of his teammates. Tufts remarked: "I want to say that we will miss Damon on the team in the spring, and we are working on Dave Greiner '03 to come out of retirement to bolster the squad." Gacicia himself fittingly reflected upon his time as the Panther's captain, "It was just great for me to see how everyone came together and achieved what we had set out to do from day one. We accomplished our goals as a team, when in fact the idea of a 'team' in an individual sport like golf is truly rare. When a group of individuals comes together like we did this season, it really pushes everyone to feel a great sense of pride in their own contributions toward the team's cause."
The Panthers will take to the links again this spring when league play resumes. While Gacicia's presence will most certainly be missed, his ethos will linger over the Ralph Myhre Golf Course and inspire his former teamates to succeed.