Changes

"The 13-putt": The headline of the article following the an October, 2003 tournament was "Ephs Fall Victim to Bizarre Course Set-up @ ECAC Championship." However, it was certainly freshman Alex Mallory that bore the brunt of the bizarre course set-up. The 10th hole at Saratoga Spa golf course is an short, overly narrow par four that ends with the most severe green on the course - a two-tiered surface pitching sharply from back to front. In an ridiculous and controversial decision, on this day the pin was cut almost right into the tier, making it virtually impossible to keep any ball near the hole. With many players struggling to find the elusive hole, backups on the tee reached 5 group waits. After hitting the green in regulation 2 strokes, Alex proceeded to 13-putt the green for a 15 on the hole. The remaining members of the team four and five-putted, as 3 foot missed putts ended up 30 or more feet away. Certain that this unfair situation would be turned into an automatic 2-putt (as the fourth green was on this day), Alex went on to post a fine 1-over par performance for the other 17 of his holes. However, the tournament director apparently did not see a big enough issue and chose to let the scores stand. Enraged Williams coach Rick Pohle refused to stay for the tournament conclusion and wrote numerous official complaint letters to throw the tournament results out. The effort went unrewarded, and the team's drop from 2nd or 3rd to 9th place in the ECAC championship because of the hole location was a large factor in missing Nationals at the end of the year.