Following two wins last weekend at the Williams Spring Invitational and Little Three Championship, men’s golf finished eighth out of ten teams at the NESCAC Championship at Brunswick Golf Club in Maine last weekend.
Phil Clifton ’25 was the team’s low man on the weekend, finishing tied for ninth overall in the field of 50 players. Clifton carded a 159 and shot +5 over the two days. After Saturday, Clifton was tied for first in the individual competition after an impressive even par through 18. “It was pretty gettable … not a ton of wind, perfect day out.” Clifton said in an interview with the Record. “It felt like I just went out and took advantage of some opportunities.”
On Saturday, Ben Sapovits ’25 and Will Rich ’26 both carded 79s and were joined by Alex Moller ’27, who shot an 80, to round out the scoring for the Ephs. “It’s one of those courses where the beginning is easy and gettable and gets a little more challenging at the end,” Sapovits said in an interview with the Record. “Scores were low at the beginning and weeded out some other people towards the end of the round.”
Sunday’s low-man was Rich, who finished the day with a 75, making three birdies. Clifton’s Sunday score was in the 70s again as he finished fiveover. Moller and John Pagano ’26 were also part of the scoring finishing six and eight over respectively. “We went off in the earliest wave on Sunday, and it dumped rain on us for the first seven holes … so that was not fun,” said Clifton. “A lot of the times when there’s rain, the course can be soft and a lot easier, but while it’s actually raining the green’s slick, the ball skips and it becomes inconsistent,” Sapovits added.
Last weekend’s result comes after an excellent weekend for the Ephs at home at the Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown. The team rounded out Sunday with Clifton leading the team as low-man. His 71 for par was sealed by a birdie on 18. The Ephs went on to win the Williams Spring Invitational.
“Home tournaments are always great, and I was proud of our team for … After a bad weekend the week before, we came out and played like we were the best team in the NESCAC,” Clifton said. “At one point on the front nine [on Saturday] we weren’t playing great, but everybody kinda buckled down on the back and played really well coming in.” Playing their home course was also a boon to the team, as it got to hit at familiar pins down the stretch for the weekend. Some of the players shared their favorite parts about the Taconic Golf Club. “It’s nice starting on one, because it’s basically the easiest starting hole you could ask for,” Clifton said. “It takes some of the nerves off.”
“It’s easily the best course we play all year,” Sapovits noted. Pagano said his favorite hole is the eighth, a short par four. “Despite it being shorter, it requires a good tee shot, a good second shot, and the green,” he said. “It looks flat, but it actually has some subtle breaks, so I think those very subtle nuances make it such a great hole.”
Following the success at home over the weekend, the Ephs hosted the Little Three Championship last Tuesday, where they also took home a win. The structure of the Little Three Championship is slightly different from traditional play. “You do a morning 18 and an afternoon 18… In the morning you play with a partner, but it’s alternate shot,” Clifton explained. “Somebody tees off on odd holes, somebody tees off on even holes … If I hit the tee shot, [my partner] would hit the second, I would hit the third, and he would hit the fourth.”
“You play with six people in a group — two Williams, two Amherst, two Wesleyan — play one match against each, so you can win a maximum of two points (each match is worth one point), and the afternoon is just singles, so 1v1,” Clifton added.
The Little Three is also a unique tournament in that, because of its size, players are often paired up with the same competitors year on year. “Whenever we see each other we talk to each other about our Little Three’s record, who’s gonna beat who next time… We get to talk a little bit of smack,” Clifton said. “We’ve gotten closer — at first he wasn’t my favorite and now we’re friendly and when we play it’s a lot of fun… It’s about building that community.”
The Ephs dominated almost all of their matches, in both pairs and singles at the Little Three, and played the last holes on one of the nicest days in the Town this spring.