The golf team's season-opening score was a 19-stroke improvement over last year's, but judging from the reactions of the players, their expectations have clearly been raised."If we ever broke 320 in the past, it would be a huge accomplishment, but it was almost expected for this tournament," captain Ralph Harary '09 said.

The Judges tallied a two-day total of 626 strokes-312 Saturday and 314 Sunday-at the Trinity College Invitational in Hebron, Conn. last weekend, finishing fifth out of eight squads.

"I thought we played well overall," coach Bill Shipman said. "We only had one really high score, [and] our top three guys showed consistent play. I was overall pleased, but we need to putt better, basically."

Nichols College won the tournament with a score of 603, followed by Babson College, Trinity and Quinnipiac University.

Lee Bloom '10 led the way for the Judges, shooting a four-over-par 76 on the first day and a three-over-par 75 on the second for a two-day total of 151. Bloom, who shot a school-record two-under-par 70 in the last tournament of the spring 2008 season, said his performance last weekend was "a good continuation" of the way he ended last year, even though he didn't make a single putt from over 10 feet away.

"He hit the ball on the fairway consistently, [and] he hit on the green consistently," Shipman said. "Make a few more putts here and there and he could have shot par."

Bloom bogeyed the first hole of his round Sunday, but while it got him off to a rough start, he said it allowed him to focus more effectively during the rest of his round.

"That kind of gave me the spark to play the rest of the round," he said. "It kept me concentrated and sort of got me into the round."

Charles Sacks '11, who finished second on the team, shot a seven-over-par 79 and a five-over-par 77 for a two-day total of 157.

"When [Sacks] hits the ball well, he hits it as well as anybody," Shipman said.

Aaron Cusato '12, the only rookie to compete for the Judges in the tournament, finished third on the team with a five-over-par 77 Saturday and an eight-over-par 80 Sunday in his collegiate debut. Cusato said that a sixth hole chip-in during his Saturday round helped provide him with confidence he may have been lacking coming into play.

"I was trying not to set my sights too high, . but I'm accepting that this was my first [collegiate] tournament," he said.

Shipman was impressed with the rookie's composed approach.

"[Cusato] is a smart golfer that doesn't get too rattled when he makes a mistake," he said. "We're happy to have him, and I think he'll be a solid golfer for us."

Harary shot an eight-over-par 80 Saturday and a 10-over-par 82 Sunday, birdieing the 17th hole both days. Alex Podell '09 shot an 11-over-par 83 Saturday and a 12-over-par 84 Sunday, while Aaron Hattenbach '09 posted an 11-over-par 83 Saturday and an 18-over-par 90 Sunday.

Harary said the greens were wet after heavy rainfall before the tournament.

"These greens are pretty slow compared to most of the greens we play on," he said.

Shipman said the team plans on improving its putting with new techniques but noted that "it's easier said than done. It's a very mental game."

Brandeis heads to Brunswick, Maine next weekend for the Bowdoin Invitational.

-Mike Prada contributed reporting