Bad weather contributed to a poor performance for the men’s golf team last weekend and the Bulldogs slid to fifth place in the Century Intercollegiate tournament.
The Elis finished in the lower half of the eight-team tournament, held from Apr. 21 to 22 in Purchase N.Y. This upcoming weekend, the team will travel to Galloway, N.J., for the Ivy League Championships. Yale scored a 625 over the two days of competition, but the effort was not enough to top Rhode Island (600), Harvard (606), Princeton (617) or Dartmouth (624).
“I don’t think last weekend will affect us one way or another [at Ivy League Championships],” Hatten said, “Ivies is a completely different ball game.”
On the first day of the tournament, the team was in third place with a score of 303, which trailed both Dartmouth and Rhode Island. At the time, the Bulldogs were only seven strokes behind first-place Rhode Island.
But on the second day of competition the team added 19 strokes to its score and dropped to fifth place in the standings. The Elis played in the latest wave of tee times and faced difficult weather conditions, including pouring rain and cold. Sam Bernstein ’14 said Saturday was one of the worst days of golf he has seen throughout his career, but Bradley Kushner ’13 added that the awful conditions were no excuse for the team’s place because every team faced them.
Yale’s top scorer, Jeff Hatten ’12 earned a 153 and tied for ninth in the individual standings. Hatten was tied for fourth place with a score of 73 and scored an 80 on the second day.
Russell Holmes ’13 had a strong Saturday as well and finishing only two stokes behind Hatten with a 75.
Despite the weekend’s tough Sunday round, team members said they remain optimistic about the Ivy League Championships. Kushner said last weekend’s loss may even be a “blessing in disguise” because after the team members are not over confident heading into the championships yet are still comfortable with their own abilities after this weekend’s performance. Hatten agreed that despite losing to three Ivy League rivals this weekend, the tournament will not have a negative effect on Ivy League Championships.
“Everyone goes in [to Ivy League Championships] with the most intensity, pressure and excitement,” Hatten said, “and we’re right where we need to be to contend.”
The Bulldogs managed to beat Brown and Cornell last weekend.
Since the Elis saw such difficult weather conditions on Sunday, they will be better prepared to play through them at Ivies, should the conditions take a turn for the worst, Kushner said. Hatten added that the Elis have already practiced in bad weather this week in preparation for the tournament. When the Bulldogs took the Ivy title last year, the team also faced difficult conditions.
Last year, the Elis bested second-place Columbia by 20 strokes.