After tumultuous 13th and 14th holes, golf team captain Aaron Hattenbach '09 was simply happy to make it through the first day of the Johnson & Wales Invitational last weekend. With a par 5 dogleg left on the 13th hole, meaning a hole that bends to the left, Hattenbach's first two strokes resulted in him driving the ball onto a small island 20 yards away from the grass. Although the ball was playable, Hattenbach could only reach the ball by putting on a pair of rain pants and crossing onto the island. However, the stream was not the only obstacle he had to confront, as a goose that hissed and flapped its wings, threatening Hattenbach as he prepared to chip the ball.

"I went up there and toughed it up, thinking that if this bird makes a run at me, I'll just take my club and whack it," Hattenbach said.

On the next hole, an opposing golfer in the woods hit a line drive towards Hattenbach's head as he prepared to tee off on the 14th hole, forcing him to fall on his back to dodge the golf ball.

"At that point I just took off my drenched shoes and played the hole in my wet socks. It was almost comical after a bird almost attacks and you almost get killed with a golf ball," Hattenbach said.

Hattenbach may have escaped the tournament in one piece, but the Judges once again struggled in the competition. The Judges finished with a team score of 335 on the first day last Saturday, putting them in fifth place at 51 strokes over par. On the second day, they failed to gain any ground on the competition, slipping to sixth place out of 13 teams despite scoring a 327 on the final day of the tournament, totaling at 662, 94 strokes over par. New York University won the event with a score of 606 at 38 strokes over par.

"This team isn't playing terribly; it just hasn't performed to the level we showed during the fall season," coach Bill Shipman said. "They're a little rusty, and they haven't gotten it together. Sometimes you have to score even when you're not hitting the ball well, and they have not been doing that."

Charles Sacks '11 and Lee Bloom '10, who scored a 17-over-par 159 and 21-over-par 163, respectively, led the Judges in scoring over the weekend. Fernando Pineres of Babson College turned in the best score of the tournament by shooting just four over par in the two-day event.

While Sacks led the Judges, he was unimpressed with his own performance.

"There were a few good shots here and there, but I had some trouble scoring," he said. "My ball striking was good, but it wasn't good enough to get me close enough to the hole."

Sacks said his greatest challenge over the weekend was playing the par-five holes, where he scored three over par.

"The worse you ever want to score when playing a par-five is even, and I botched them up," Sacks said.

Bloom's performance was highlighted by his resiliency on the final nine holes. After double-bogeying the 10th hole and triple-bogeying the 11th hole, Bloom bounced back to finish even par on the rest of the back nine.

While Bloom earned the second best score for the Judges, he was more focused on regaining his stroke from the fall season, when he won two individual tournaments.

"I made some progress this weekend," Bloom said. "I'm still trying to shake the rust off of my swing. I've only played about eight rounds since the fall season, and I'm still trying to get the feel back."

Rounding out the remaining Brandeis scores were Daniel Goldsmith '11 with a 28-over-par at 170; Hattenbach with a 171, 29-over-par; and Aaron Cusato '12 with a 174, 32-over-par.

Throughout the meet, the Judges struggled to position themselves well on many holes.

"Our shots from the fairways weren't hitting greens. When you're three, four, five strokes over par, it's going to be hard to come away with a good number," Hattenbach said.

"They were missing the greens and not chipping the balls close to the hole. They were even struggling to putt the ball even after getting on the green. On the bright side, they hit the ball off the tee well and their precision with their irons was pretty good," Shipman added.

The Judges will next compete in the University Athletic Association Championships at Royal Lakes Golf Course in Flowery Branch, Ga. from Friday to Monday.