No. 22 Men's Golf at the Duke Nelson Invitational
Saturday, September 13 | 1 p.m.
Sunday, September 14 | 9 a.m.
Ralph Myhre Golf Club | Middlebury, Vt.
WHAT TO KNOW
• The 22nd-ranked Babson men's golf team will begin its season at Middlebury's Duke Nelson Invitational for the fifth year in a row.
• The Beavers will compete against some of the top programs in the northeast region over 36 holes on Saturday and Sunday at Ralph Myhre Golf Club, a 6,379-yard par 71 layout nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.
2024 DUKE NELSON INVITATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
•
Evan Eichenlaub closed with a 1-over 72 and tied for fifth place with a 36-hole total of 4-over 146 as Babson placed third in a 23-team field at the Duke Nelson Invitational on September 14-15, 2024.
• First-year
Aman Vantipalli shot 73-75 to tie for 11th place at 6-over, junior
Jack Berry (79-73) and
John Baldwin '25 (78-74) grabbed a share of 27th position at 10-over, and senior
Tomas Amaya closed with a 4-over 75 to finish in a tie for 32nd overall at 11-over for the Beavers.
• The Green and White shot 303-294 to finish with a 36-hole total of 29-over that was four strokes behind first-place Hamilton and two shots behind second-place Hartford.
ABOUT THE BEAVERS
• Under the direction of 13th-year head coach
Jeff Page, No. 22 Babson returns an experienced group of eight veterans that helped the team recorded four top-five finishes in eight tournaments during the 2024-25 campaign.
• Vantipalli earned GCAA All-America honorable mention honors and was named to the Division III All-Freshman team while posting a 73.80 stroke average in 20 rounds as a rookie, while Berry (75.06) finished under par three times and registered three top-20 results in seven events.
• Senior
Colin Fowler recorded a 74.60 scoring average in four spring events, Amaya with fifth on the squad with a 75.10 stroke average, and senior
Shane Quinn teed it up just five times last spring but boasts a 75.24 career average and earned all-region honors back in both 2023 and 2024.
• Babson finished last season ranked 22nd in the Scoreboard Division III rankings and a 296.15 team scoring average over 20 rounds.
SUCCESS IN THE GREEN MOUNTAIN STATE
• Babson has finished atop the leaderboard in two of its last four visits to Ralph Myhre GC (2021, 2023) and been victorious three times in seven trips to the Duke Nelson Invitational going back to 2017.
• The Beavers have recorded seven consecutive top-five finishes at Middlebury since 2017 and have placed no worse than sixth in nine straight starts at Middlebury dating back to 2015.
• The Green and White boasts a 293.43 team scoring average in 14 rounds at Ralph Myhre GC going back to 2017 and has finished with a 36-hole total of 592 or lower in five of their last seven appearances at the Duke Nelson Invitational.
ROOKIE YEAR TO REMEMBER
• In addition to leading the team with five rounds under par, Vantipalli's 73.80 stroke average in 2024-25 was the lowest by a Babson first-year in program history.
• Vantipalli also was the Beavers' first rookie to garner All-America honorable mention honors thanks to recording six top-20 finishes in eight starts.
ABOUT THE FIELD
• While defending champions Hamilton are not returning to Middlebury, runner-up Hartford and the rest of the teams that finished in the top 10 will competed at Ralph Myhre GC.
• Included in this group are Amherst, which finished 18th at last May's NCAA Division III Championship, and another NCAA qualifier in Farmingdale State.
• Amherst, Skidmore and Trinity all received votes in the Bushnell Golfweek preseason poll, which was released on August 29.
UP NEXT
• The Beavers travel to Taconic Golf Club in Williamstown, Mass., for the 54-hole Williams Invitational on September 20-21.
