No. 21 Men's Golf at the Williams Invitational 
Saturday, September 21 | 1 p.m.
Sunday, September 22 | 9 a.m.
Taconic Golf Club | Williamstown, Mass. 

WHAT TO KNOW
•    The Babson men's golf team returns to the Williams Invitational for the eight year in row. 
•    The Beavers are among 20 teams that will begin first round play on Saturday at 1 p.m. and final round play on Sunday at 9 a.m.

THE COURSE
•    Taconic Golf Club, a 6,808-yard par-71 layout built in 1927, has hosted three USGA Championships and four NCAA Championships in its storied history.
•    Taconic also was recently ranked No. 3 on the top campus courses you can play list by Golfweek.

2023 WILLIAMS INVITATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
•    Sean Fitzgerald '23 M'24 came in second at even-par and junior Tomas Amaya tied for third place at 1-over to help Babson post a 10-shot victory in last season's Williams Invitational at Taconic Golf Club on September 16-17. 
•    Fitzgerald shot 72-70 and Amaya opened with a 2-under 69 for the Beavers, who shot even-par in the final round and finished at 14-over 582 to edge Trinity (592), Gustavus Adolphus (594) and Pomona-Pitzer (595). 
•    Senior John Baldwin close with a round of 1-under 70 and sophomore Evan Eichenlaub fired a 71 in the final round for the Green and White. 

ABOUT THE BEAVERS
•    No. 21 Babson opened the season by shooting 303-294 to finish in third place at 29-over at the Duke Nelson Invitational last weekend in Middlebury, Vt. 
•    Eichenlaub shot 74-72 to tie for fifth place at 4-over 146, while first-year Aman Vantipalli posted rounds of 73-75 to grab a share of 11th position with a 36-hole total of 6-over 148 as the Beavers finished just four strokes behind first-place Hamilton and two off the pace of runner-up Hartford. 
•    Sophomore Jack Berry (79-73) and Baldwin (78-74) tied for 27th overall at 10-over 152 and Amaya earned a share of 32nd place at 11-over 151 for the Green and White. 
•    Babson returns seven of its top eight players, including four all-region performers, from a team that finished the 2023-24 campaign with a 296.00 scoring average. 

POLL POSITION
•    After being ranked in every poll last year, the Beavers checked in at No. 21 when GCAA released its Bushnell/Golfweek Division III preseason poll back in August. 
•    After starting last season at No. 23, the Green and White rose as high as 12th last October before finishing the 2023-24 campaign ranked 18th.

EXPERIENCE IN THE LINEUP
•    Despite graduating Fitzgerald, who earned a GCAA All-America honorable mention last year, the Beavers feature four players that have teed it up in at least 20 career rounds. 
•    Baldwin, a 2023 All-America second-team selection and two-time all-region honoree, finished last season with a 73.70 average and boasts a 74.72 average in 50 career rounds. 
•    Junior Shane Quinn (74.35) and Amaya (75.89) both garnered GCAA Region I accolades last May along with Eichenlaub (75.88), while junior Colin Fowler posted a 76.21 stroke average in 14 starts during the 2023-24 campaign. 

TACONIC TRENDS
•    The Beavers have recorded seven consecutive top-five finishes since returning to the Williams Invitational in 2016 following a three-year hiatus, a run that includes victories in 2019, 2021 and 2023. 
•    Babson has broken 300 in six consecutive rounds at Taconic GC going back to 2021 and boasts a team scoring average of 289.67 during this stretch. 
•    In 14 rounds at Taconic GC dating back to 2016, the Green and White has a 301.43 team scoring average and has finished below 300 seven times.
•    The winning score at the Williams Invitational has been 588 or better in six consecutive tournaments going back to 2017. The low 36-hole total during this stretch belongs to Babson, which finished at 8-under 560 back in 2021. 
•    Baldwin owns a pair of top-20 finishes and a 73.75 stroke average in four rounds over the last two seasons at Taconic GC.

ABOUT THE FIELD
•    The 22-team field features seven of the top 10 finishers at last week's Duke Nelson Invitational, a group that includes Endicott, Trinity and Tufts, which were separated by just two strokes in fifth through seventh place. 
•    No. 25 Gustavus Adolphus, which placed third at the Williams Invitational last September, already owns one victory and a pair of top-five finishes this fall, while Rensselaer is coming off a third-place showing at The Gauntlet in Lewisburg, Pa., last weekend. 

UP NEXT
•    The Beavers are off until October 7-8 when they travel to Douglasville, Ga., for the 54-hole West Pines Collegiate hosted by Oglethorpe.