For those who don’t know it, golf is a leisure sport of rolling greens and polo shirts. But those familiar with the game know the kind of tension and pressure it entails.

Just ask sophomore Connor Wentzell. With Harvard and Penn tied 2-2 on Saturday, the entire fate of the match rested on his performance.

The Crimson, a six seed, had already defeated third-seeded Dartmouth and was looking for a crack at the finals against Yale. Tied after 18 holes of play, Wentzell faced off against Penn’s Bryant Williams in extra holes. After Williams birdied the second extra hole, Wentzell and the rest of the Harvard squad were relegated to the consolation match against Columbia—which was eventually rained out—at the Ivy Match Play tournament at Bay Club in Mattapoisett, Mass.

“I didn’t lose it, but the other kid won it,” Wentzell said. “I did everything I could, I didn’t make mistakes, he just played a little bit better on the last hole.”

While Wentzell may not have gotten the Crimson the victory against Penn, his play had already helped the team to a 3-2 victory against Dartmouth that morning.

Wentzell, number four, and Louis Amira, number five, took care of business early, winning their two matches, which took the pressure off the top three golfers, senior Greg Shuman and sophomores Mark Pollak and Tony Grillo.

“It was a good insurance for the rest of the guys,” Wentzell said. “They were able to take it easy and play with more confidence.”

After defeating the Big Green, the Crimson took on the Quakers and encountered difficulties early as Wentzell and Grillo went down quickly, and Amira seemed to be losing control of an early lead. Grillo and Amira both rallied to win, but losses by Shuman and Pollak forced Wentzell’s match against Williams into the spotlight.

Wentzell had rebounded from his early deficit and was tied with Williams after 18 holes. On the first extra hole, Wentzell was able to get on the green quickly.

“Connor hit an unbelievable approach,” Shuman said.

But he was unable to capitalize and missed his putt for a birdie. Luckily for him, Williams did the same.

Hitting into the wind on the second extra hole, Wentzell settled the ball 20 feet from the cup. Williams was also able to close in on the hole, getting the ball within 12 feet.

“When Connor got the ball 20 feet from the hole, we thought we had it,” Pollak said. “Then the Penn guy got it to 12 feet.”

Once again, it came down to putting.

Just as on the first hole, Wentzell, missed his chance at a birdie. But, this time Williams sunk the put.