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A Harvard men’s golf team — comprised entirely of underclassmen — recorded the program’s best finish of the year in the final meet of the fall season.
Braving inclement weather and riding on the back of strong play, the Crimson placed second in this week’s Georgetown Intercollegiate at Echo Lake Country Club, in Westfield, New Jersey.
Freshman Reese Jensen finished as runner-up in the individual competition in just his second-ever appearance for Harvard’s varsity team, shooting a tied-for-best +1.
In a tournament shortened from 54 holes to 36 due to effects of the nor’easter which lashed New Jersey early this week, the Crimson shot a 29 over. While this was tied for the team’s highest over par score of the season, Coach Kevin Rhoads was content with the performance, especially noting Jensen’s high finish.
“As you can tell, I’m very proud of the guys,” Rhoads said. “Reese had such a good, strong performance, and seeing that come from a first-year, it’s extremely impressive.”
The Crimson was slated to begin its tournament play with two rounds on Monday’s federal holiday, but the morning’s 18 holes were cancelled because of rainy conditions and high winds. When the team came out in the afternoon, the weather had calmed down, but was still undoubtedly impacting their gameplan.
“Round one was colder and windier than the second day, so it definitely proved to be a tough test,” Jensen said. “In those conditions, I was just trying to stay patient. I think birdies usually come for me, it was just about minimizing mistakes.”
The birdies came for him. Jensen started out on fire, shooting four birdies on his first five holes after the shotgun start tournament format saw him beginning his round on the par four fourth hole.
His 71 (E) put him in second place after the first round. This score ,alongside the 75 (+4) that sophomore Ieuan Jones shot and the 76 (+5) that freshman Isaac Ahn carded, contributed to a 19-over-par for Harvard in the first round, good for third place entering day two.
Fortunately, the rain and wind had subsided by the beginning of the second round and the Crimson was able to continue its strong performance, carding a 21 over on the day and closing out the tournament in second place.
Sophomore Barry Zhang ended day two with an impressive 70 (-1), a ten-stroke improvement over his first day 80 (+9) and the Crimson’s low round for the tournament. This ten stroke difference marked an impressive show of resilience from Zhang, who began his first round with a quadruple bogey (7) on hole three.
“I knew I just had to keep the round going, stay in the fight, " said Zhang. “Whenever things are not going your way, just try to stay in the fight, keep going.”
Despite the major improvement between rounds, Zhang claimed that his approach did not change for the second round.
“I knew that I handled 17 holes of round one the way I wanted to,” Zhang said. “So I mainly stuck to my game plan and was a little more careful on number three.”
Jensen followed his day one 71 (E) with a solid 72 (+1) on day two. Despite two great rounds on the scorecard, his second day of play did not come as easily as the first. Good play around the greens guided him to another strong finish.
“That day, I was making a lot of up and downs and saving a lot of pars,” Jensen said. “I didn't hit the ball as well on the second day, so I just had to rely on my short game and make some putts.”
The Crimson’s second place finish was backed up by strong performances from the rest of the team. Ahn carded another 76 (+5), while Jones and William Ma ’29 contributed a 77 (+6) and an 81 (+10) respectively, allowing the Crimson to end the tournament with a +29; edging out third place finisher William & Mary by two strokes.
As the Crimson prepare for the offseason and look towards the spring season, there is a sense of momentum in the building. All five golfers who traveled to New Jersey for the Georgetown Intercollegiate were underclassmen, and the future appears to be bright.
“I see a lot of potential in this team. We definitely have the firepower,” Zhang said. “I feel like once we get some extra work done in the offseason, we will look great in the spring.”
Rhoads saw it no differently, praising the maturity of the young players.
“All of our guys were very strong, we’re really good mentally, nobody ever feels like a victim out there,” Rhoads said. “As we just get a little more experience and keep coming together, I’m very optimistic about what this group is going to do.”
Harvard will tee off for their spring season in late April, when the team will travel to Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey for the Ivy League Men’s Golf Championship.
