Playing in the two-round competition, Dartmouth shot a combined score of 617, 41 over par, finishing even with Nichols College. Bryant University won the tournament with a score of 604, 28 over par, with runner-up Sacred Heard University just one shot behind it. Rounding out the top three was Central Connecticut University, which finished with a score of 609, 33 over par, just five shots behind the victors from Bryant.
Pete Williamson '12 led the Big Green golfers with a two-round score of 150, six over par, to finish in a tie for eighth place. Williamson's 76 on day one was tied for the fourth best round of the day as the course proved difficult, with the best score being even par, coming from Sacred Heart's Pat Fillian and Brown's Michael Amato.
On day two, Williamson improved and shot a 74 as the course played much easier.
While Williamson improved two strokes in the second round, he was not the biggest mover as Davis Mullany '11 shot four strokes better on Tuesday, shooting a 74, two over par after a 78 on day one. Also improving on day two was captain Rob Henley '09, who shot a 76 on day two after a 79 on day one. Mullany finished tied for 15th while Henley finished in a tie for 25th.
Rounding out the scoring for the Big Green was Teddy Overton '12, who shot a day one 78 and a day two 82 for a total of 160 to finish tied for 63rd.
The team shot five strokes better overall on day two, shooting a 306 combined after a 311 combined on day one. Teams such as Bryant, however, improved by much greater margins, as the Bulldogs shot a whopping 22 strokes better on day two.
Henley says that the weather may have had something to do with the better scores on day two.
"It was very windy the first day, which definitely negatively affected the scores," Henley said. "Day two it was much calmer in the morning, but the wind picked up a little in the afternoon making the finish a bit tougher. Overall, the scores were much lower the second day across the board, which was definitely a result of less wind."
While the Big Green finished day one in a tie for second, they fell off pace on day two.
"We were in second after the first day, but there were a bunch of teams bunched up right behind us, so we knew we needed a good second day to maintain our position," Henley said. "305 obviously wasn't good enough. We beat all the teams we normally beat, but didn't beat some of the teams that we are generally comparable week to week."
The tournament had an exciting finish as Sacred Heart's Matt Belizze was the individual champion, beating out three others, including teammate Fillian, Alex Daley of Bryant and Anthony Gallardo from UMass-Lowell in a playoff to finish with a score of 147, 3 over par.
The event was held at the Captains Golf Course in Brewster, Mass., drawing 215 collegiate golfers from around New England. The NEIGA Championship is considered to be the oldest and largest college golf tournament in America, and has been held since 1934. The tournament is unique for having colleges from Divisions I, II and III competing together.
"The courses were in pretty good shape, and other than the wind the first day, fairly scorable," Henley said.
New England's was the last tournament of the fall for the Big Green, which now moves into the offseason, looking to prepare for the spring where the ultimate prize is an Ivy League Championship. Henley summed up the fall season with few words, looking forward to improvement before the spring.
"Overall the fall ended up decently -- maybe not up to our original expectations -- but no one is too disappointed," Henley said. "Hopefully in the spring we will play a little better and finish up the year right at Ivies."
