WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.—Sophomore Luke Walker (Bradenton, Fla.) put together a pair of steady rounds and is just three shots off the lead as 20th-ranked Babson College sits in third place after 36 holes of the Williams Invitational at Taconic Golf Club. 

The Beavers, who are the defending Williams Invitational champions, shot 290-294 to finish the day at 16-over 584, which has them 10 strokes behind first-place Trinity (574) and just a shot behind second-place Pomona-Pitzer (583). Amherst (586) and Middlebury (589) round out the top five after two rounds. 

Walker carded back-to-back rounds of 1-over 72 that each featured three birdies and four bogeys. He is tied for eighth place on the individual leaderboard at 2-over 144 and is just three shots the trio of Julian Ragosa of Trinity, Andre Zhang of Amherst and Tucker Gongaware of Middlebury. 

Senior Jack Berry (Western Springs, Ill.) made five birdies and five bogeys on the way to opening round 71 and then posted a 4-over 75 in the afternoon leaving him in a tie for 15th place at 4-over. Junior Aman Vantipalli (Alpharetta, Ga.) and first-year Jay Sherwood (Duxbury, Mass.) are both just a shot behind him at 5-over in a tie for 22nd position. 

Sherwood made his fifth birdie of the first round on his closing hole to fire an even-par 71 in his collegiate debut and bounced back from a tough start to his second round by playing the final 12 holes in 1-under to post a 76. Vantipalli was 4-over through his first nine holes on Saturday before turning things around to shoot 76-71. 

Junior Chad Tordone (Barnstable, Mass.) struggled on the front nine in both of Saturday's rounds and shot 78-78 and is tied for 60th at 14-over. 

Final round play at Taconic Golf Club will begin at 12 p.m. on Sunday. 

TOURNAMENT NOTES
•    In addition to capturing last year's title, the Beavers also finished atop the leaderboard at the Williams Invitational in both 2021 and 2023. 
•    In 13 rounds at Taconic GC going back to 2021, Babson owns a 292.77 scoring average. 
•    Sherwood and Berry are tied for fourth in the 89-player field with eight birdies through 36 holes. 
•    Vantipalli has finished at even-par or better in four of five rounds this fall.