Another wet weekend in the Northeast prevented the golf team from redeeming itself after a rough first round at the New York University/Manhattanville Golf Classic in Mamaroneck, N.Y. last weekend as play was suspended after day one because of the weather. The team finished tied for 10th out of 12 teams with a 36-over-par 326 in its only round last Saturday. Skidmore College finished in first with an eight-over-par 296, 18 shots better than second-place finisher the University of Rochester.

Charles Sacks '11 was the Judges' top golfer, tying for ninth with an individual score of three-over-par 75. Sacks finished eight strokes behind Skidmore senior Chris DeJohn, who was the only player who finished under par with a four-under-par 68.

Coach Bill Shipman was pleased with Sacks' performance during the game.

"[Sacks] played very well," Shipman said. "His putter was working really well for him yesterday. He made a few birdies and [made] only a couple of mistakes. ... He has been playing well and putting very well."

Sacks was happy with his putting, saying that it saved him on several holes.

"I had 28 putts, which is a good number for putts," he said. "I just had trouble hitting greens. I had only seven greens, so my short game really saved me. My putting pretty much carried me through the day. I felt like I managed the course pretty well."

The Judges' next-best score came from Aaron Cusato '12, who finished with a nine-over-par 81.

"[Cusato] played pretty well, too," Shipman added. "He hit the ball generally well. He was going along really well. He had a bad break on the ninth hole, which cost him a triple bogey. Had he managed to par the hole, he would have had a pretty good score."

Cusato thought that the ninth hole hurt his chances of placing higher in the round.

"I wasn't hitting the ball very well, but I was scrambling well and keeping myself in the tournament," Cusato said. "I got to the ninth hole, which is a par three, and I made a seven on it, a quadruple bogey, and that threw out my chances of putting up a good number."

Scott Beaulac '12, who led the Judges Oct. 11 at the Nichols Invitational in Worcester, Mass., finished with a 10-over-par 82. Lee Bloom '10 completed the round with a 14-over-par 86 while Dan Goldsmith '11 rounded out the Brandeis scores with an 19-over-par 90.

Shipman said that his team needs to cut down on committing costly errors on the golf course.

"Our guys need to putt a little better," he said. "We need to avoid the big holes, the double and triple bogeys. They can turn a good score into a mediocre score."

"We need to keep it together and prevent the doubles and triples and quads from your score," Sacks added. "If we keep it out of our scorecards, it makes it much easier to score. I just hope we can do better. Hopefully, the weather holds off and we can play better."

Cusato would like for his teammates to disregard their poor performances and focus on the next round.

"I think we need to forget about this round," Cusato said. "We are a much better team than how we played yesterday. We can't dwell on it because we don't have much time to really work on anything before our next tournament. We have to put it behind us and just go out with a fresh start."

The Judges start their final fall season tournament today at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championships in Brewster, Mass. The team's next scheduled event is the University Athletic Association Championship in Rochester, N.Y. on April 25, 2010, in what could be the team's last UAA Championships.

The University plans to suspend the team as a varsity program at the conclusion of the spring season.