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Harvard Women’s Golf ended its fall season strong with a tied-third place finish in the last stop of the year at the Lady Blue Hen Invitational at the Rehoboth Beach Country Club in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Led by sophomore Vanessa Zhang, who topped the individual leaderboard with an impressive three-round score of six-under (210), the Crimson completed its fall season with back-to-back third-place finishes.
Zhang's impressive two-day combined score of six-under marks her second individual victory following her win at the Quinnipiac Classic in Wallingford, Connecticut, and marks her as just the fifth player in program history to win back-to-back tournaments.
In the 54-hole tournament, the Crimson shot a combined 23, tying Dartmouth and beating out their fellow Ivy League competitors Yale and Penn, who finished tied for fifth (+26) and solo eighth (+32), respectively.
The first round was a masterclass in resilience by Zhang, who had come down sick the day before the tournament. Despite hoping she would be feeling better, she found that by Saturday morning, she was even worse for wear. But nonetheless, Zhang forced herself to keep a positive mindset and not let the final tournament of the year slip away.
“I was already there. I might as well just make the most of the situation. Just play as well as I can tomorrow,” Zhang said. “There's nothing else you can do except to do your best; being sick or tired is not a reason for you not to play well. So that's the kind of mentality going into the tournament.”
And do her best she did. The first round saw Zhang off to a blazing hot start, firing off three birdies on the front, and rounding out holes 16, 17, and 18 with back to back to back birdies for a 67 (-5). Captain Iris Wang and sophomore Lucy Yuan followed Zhang’s lead with a 74 (+2) and a 75 (+5), putting Harvard in a strong position going into the afternoon round.
Coming off a first-round 79 (+7), junior Bonnie Zhai rebounded later in the day, leading the Harvard team’s round two score with a formidable three-under 69. With a stunning back-nine score of 30 and carding the Crimson’s only eagle of the week on the thirteenth, Zhai marked a 10-stroke improvement between day one rounds. Zhang followed with another strong 18, ending the day with a 72 (E), maintaining a mostly clean scorecard marked only with two bogeys and two birdies.
Strong winds were the unfortunate highlight of the second day, which was marked by higher scores across the board. Nevertheless, the Crimson still managed consistently low rounds. Zhang again led the team leaderboard with a one-under 71. She was followed by a 76 (+4) from Yuan, a 77 (+5) from Wang, and a 79 (+7) from freshman Dixon Hill to round out a weekend of consistently solid play from the Harvard squad.
As the Crimson prepares for the offseason and looks towards the spring season, there is a sense of anticipation building.
“We have a really good tournament schedule. We're going to play some of the best teams in the nation, which is really exciting,” said Zhang. “It's always really fun to be able to go out and see how you compare against the best.”
With the Crimson’s competition mostly being other Ivies and teams from the northeast, playing against the best schools in the nation offers the team an opportunity to improve and develop its own game.
“Just seeing what other people are doing that makes them so great, Zhang said, “then being able to not only watch that happen, but then also apply that to your own game afterwards.”
The Crimson’s third-place finish marked the finale of a fall season characterized by consistently strong play from both upper and underclassmen. Harvard will tee off again early next year, with the team’s complete spring schedule yet to be announced.
