The golf team fell into a sandpit last week, placing 10th out of 11 teams in the New York University Violet Classic Saturday. The Judges struggled similarly at the Nichols College Invite Wednesday, finishing tied for seventh place of 11 teams."On the whole we played quite poorly," coach Bill Shipman said.

"A couple people had good individual rounds but on the whole it was a disappointing tournament."

In the two-day NYU tournament, Ralph Harary '09 tied for 36th place, good for first on the team, with rounds of 86 and 83.

"I did not play to my potential and neither did the rest of the team," Harary said.

Alex Podell '09 tied for 47th, shooting 169 on the weekend, while Jeff Stein '08 came in 51st with a 179. Nick Wallen '09 and Lee Bloom '10 tied for 53rd, shooting 183.

"There were good teams there, but there were three or four we should have been equal to," Shipman said.

"I thought we had a chance to finish fourth or fifth."

In the Nichols Invite, Adam Botwick '08 tied for 16th place to lead the Judges, shooting an 85 on the day. Aaron Hattenbach '09 tied for 21st with an 86, while Harary tied for 31st with an 88.

"The team hasn't been playing well together, but that's one of the hardest things to do as a golf team because we all play as individuals," Jeff Stein '08 said.

Harary said mental aspects of the game were giving the team trouble.

"Golf is a very mental game," Harary said.

"It's so much repetition, and it's hard to keep it together if you have a bad hole."

The Judges tee off at their final tournament of the year this weekend at the NEIGA Championships in Brewster, Mass., starting Friday at 9 a.m.