The 2001 Ivy League Men’s Golf Tournament was held at Metedeconk National Golf Course in Jackson, N.J., this Saturday and Sunday, and both the men’s and women’s teams performed well at the Ivies, taking third and second overall, respectively.
Men’s captain Louis Aurelio ’01 won the individual championship, and the women’s team — which played Sunday and Monday — had two players place in the top five to earn all-Ivy honors — Jenny Schriefer ’02 earned third while team captain Sarah Seo ’02 took fifth.
Princeton won both the men’s and women’s titles. The University of Pennsylvania came in second for the men’s competition.
The men’s head coach Dave Paterson felt his team could have finished stronger, though.
“It was disappointing because we started off so well,” Paterson said. “We were first in the first round, second in the second round and third in the third round.”
Aurelio, who finished in a tie for fifth at last year’s tournament, drilled a six-foot par putt to win the one-hole playoff. He shot 220 (70-77-73) to beat Princeton’s James Milam and Peter McWorter.
Amazingly, Aurelio was not guaranteed a spot on this year’s starting team. Before the Ivies, he was seventh in the Yale rankings. Despite being team captain, he had to win a playoff against four teammates over 54 holes to secure his position at the Ivies.
“There was a lot of pressure on him because he is team captain and he could have been excluded,” Paterson said.
On the flipside, third-place Schriefer shot 155 (77-78), topped only by Princeton’s Julia Allison and Esty Dwek. Seo shot 157 (79-78).
“I wasn’t hitting the ball particularly well, and I knew Princeton would be a great rival,” Schriefer said. “We had a strong finish [as a team], however, our lowest round was on Monday. We were behind going into that round, and we couldn’t catch up.”
Yale’s women won the Ivy championship last year. The women’s golf championship is relatively new — the Ivy tourney was started in 1997 — and in the five-year span, Yale has won three titles.
Schriefer attributes the team’s strength over the past five years to its full-time head coach and strong recruiting. According to Schriefer, Yale has the only full-time head coach in the Ivy League.
The men’s golf team is competing in the final round at the District One New England Championships today, trying to secure a spot in the Eastern Regional Championships. At the end of play yesterday, Yale was one stroke behind the University of Hartford. Chris Eckerle ’02 and Neel Williams ’04 were tied for the overall individual lead.