Drop the mercury below 40 degrees. Let the skies open and the rain come down in sheets. Toss in a few course repairs, lengthen the par-4s, move the tees back to the tips and what do you do?

If you are a member of the Harvard women’s golf team, it means you turn your game up a notch and leave two-thirds of the field in dust.

“Spring golf is like that,” sophomore J.J. Kang said. “But everyone plays in the same weather—it’s even for the whole field. You just have to suck it up.”

That is exactly what the Crimson did this past weekend at the Bucknell Spring Classic in Lewisburg, Pa.

Harvard finished third in the 14 team field and all five Crimson golfers finished in the top 25.

Freshman Jennifer Cronan led the way with scores of 79-78-157 and finished in second.

“Jen had a great weekend,” said junior Kathryn Kuchefski. “Her game really came together over spring break and she put together two really solid rounds of golf.”

Cronan finished three shots back of tournament winner Kristen Obush from Cleveland State. Obush led Cronan by just a stroke after Saturday but fired a weekend-low 76 on Sunday to take the title.

“As a freshman coming in from high school, college golf can be a frustrating experience,” Kuchefski said. “You expect a lot of yourself and the transition can be difficult. It was just great to see Jen play so well. She was hitting the ball really solidly all weekend.”

Sophomore Carrie Baizer and Kuchefski finished tied in a tie for 15th, eight strokes back of Cronan for a two-day total of 165. Both golfers shot very low on Saturday before slipping back in the field a little through the second eighteen. Baizer fired scores of 80-85, while Kuchefski posted marks of 81-84.

Finishing in 19th place, Kang struggled slightly on Saturday to an 87 before rebounding with an 82 to close out the 36-hole tournament with a score of 169.

“The team was in a really good position after the first round,” Kang said. “But we needed to make up ground to win, so I put extra concentration on the course the second day. It was more motivation because I wanted to contribute.”

The lowest four rounds out of five each day are counted towards the team’s score. With an 87 on Saturday, Kang’s score was the highest among the five Crimson golfers and not counted towards the team tally.

If this served as extra motivation for Kang, as she claims, then it certainly worked. Kang’s 82 on Sunday was Harvard’s second lowest score on the day and just four shots back of team leader Cronan.

Junior captain Merry Chiampa finished two shots back of Kang in 25th place with very consistent scores of 85-86-171.