After finishing the first day of the Babson Invitational in Plymouth, Mass. with a disappointing score of 95, 23 strokes over par, it was clear that Charles Sacks '11 needed a stronger start on day two to shoot a better score, particularly after opening up the first day with a quadruple bogey. The second day yielded a stronger start and finish; Sacks shot two under par through the first seven holes and ended the round with a 77, just five shots over par.

However, the Judges finished with a team score of 348, putting them 60 strokes over par on the first day, and failed to gain any ground on the competition, finishing in 13th place out of 14 teams despite scoring a 329 on the final day of the tournament.

"The team had a disappointing performance this weekend. This team is fairly experienced. I would hope that the team could have dealt with the wind a little better," coach Bill Shipman said. "They didn't save many shots that would have turned bogeys into pars or double pars into bogeys with good putting."

Sacks said he turned his performance around from being "the worst round since my sophomore year of high school" to the top score on the team.

"The main difference between the two days was my mindset. I felt like a golfer and was confident with my swing on the second day. On the first day, the combination of the bad weather and the negative mindset took a toll on my score," he said.

Even with his team-leading performance, Sacks struggled at the end of his first nine holes as he posted double bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes and barely escaped with a par on the 18th hole.

"On the 18th hole, I had a terrible tee shot. I wound up 50 yards short of the green and ended up five feet short of the hole. It was a bunk hole, so I had a downhill breaking putt that broke about a foot and a half," Sacks said. "Making that hole just gave me confidence on the rest of the day."

"[Sacks] stood out in both directions," Shipman added. "He was unusually bad [Saturday], and then today he came up with a good number that could have been even better if he didn't falter at the end. He showed some fortitude by not feeling sorry for himself and returning with a strong performance."

Aaron Cusato '12 contributed to the Judges' better second day performance by improving his score by five strokes from day one to an 82, 10 stokes over par.

"Cusato played better, but he couldn't get the ball into the hole because he was putting poorly. He could have had a very strong score if he made a few more putts," Shipman said.

Captain Ralph Harary '09 said the wind also played a prominent role in the team's performance last weekend.

"The ninth and 18th holes were the most difficult because they both come back into the wind, toward the clubhouse, and they play a lot longer than they do in the scorecard," Harary said.

Harary shot five over par at 77 and double bogeyed the 18th hole.

"The wind was a huge factor this weekend. If you hit the ball high or slice it in the same direction as the wind, it would push the ball into the woods. But it affected every team-that's why the scores were fairly high," Shipman said.

The Judges also competed without Lee Bloom '10, who did not qualify for the Babson Invitational during team practices this week. Bloom's fall season included two individual tournament victories, including the first-ever win by a Brandeis player in the Bowdoin Invitational.

"Bloom started off [last Saturday] hitting the ball solidly, but not up to his normal standard, [which resulted in him not qualifying]," said Shipman. "When he's playing well he can shoot 75 or better, and I would never expect him to score over 80."

Harary said he expects Bloom to return next week with a strong performance after the long layoff between the fall and spring seasons.

"Not having [Bloom] was tough. We could have used him this weekend. He might just need some times to get back into the swing of things after the layoff," he said.

The Judges will next compete tomorrow in the Lou Flumere Invitational at the Stow Acres Country Club in Stow, Mass.