Friday was a rough start for Harvard, accumulating 315 strokes collectively, with Longwood leading the competition at 294. This set the Crimson at eighth place, an unfamiliar spot for Harvard.

“The second day, we improved as a team,” Hu said. “We were motivated because of our poor first round, and we knew what to expect more with the conditions.”

After the second round on Saturday, Eastern Michigan pulled ahead and won with +21 for the tournament, with Longwood and host Penn State tied for second. Harvard moved down from eighth to ninth place after the second day. The Crimson improved on strokes in day two, but couldn’t make up for the disappointing first day on the course.

“I think it was a combination of not enough practice and fatigue,” Lim said. “That made everybody’s performance a little bit [worse], and those tiny differences will add up.”

Individually, the Harvard golfers didn’t have weekends as great as they did the past two tournaments. Lim finished in a five-way tie for 15th place, +7 for the two rounds. Behind her were sophomore Bonnie Hu in 27th, freshman Brenna Nelsen in 48th, senior Jane Lee in 53rd, and sophomore Julie MacDonnell in 80th.

“I didn’t have a great short game,” Lim said. “That’s where I normally shoot small numbers.”

“If we were making some putts, they easily could have put us in the low 70s or low score of the day,” Rhoads added.

The Crimson will practice putting, chipping, and swings to get back into the winner’s circle.

Despite the loss, Harvard has a lot to look forward to. Tying with Yale and beating the other Ivy in the tournament, Columbia, means that the squad is still performing well in its league. Plus, they have the next week off after playing three tournaments in a row.

“With a weekend off, we need a little bit of rest, make sure we are caught up on school, and have some extra preparation,” Rhoads said.

Based on this weekend’s tournament, the team will look to improve all around.

The Crimson will take advantage of home-course advantage as it prepares for the Harvard Invitational at the Boston Golf Club.

“From now until then, we will try to get as much practice as possible to get familiar with the course,” Hu said.

“I think that after this, we are more committed in what we are doing,” Lim said. “We struggled through this tournament, but learned that we can pick ourselves up.”

—Staff writer Emily Rutter can be reached at erutter@college.harvard.edu.