Tag Archive: M. Golf

  1. M. GOLF | Defending champion Elis tee off on Sunday

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    The reigning Ivy League champion men’s golf team will begin its season this weekend faced with the task of trying to match one of its best seasons in recent years.

    A second consecutive win at the Sebonack Golf Course this Sunday against Harvard and Princeton would be a good start. The Bulldogs cruised to victory at the tournament last year, winning eight out 10 matches, but it could be a tougher competition for the Bulldogs this year after being faced with replacing former captain Tom McCarthy ’11, a three–time first-team All–Ivy selection and the 2010 conference Player of the Year. His second place finish at Galloway in April led the Bulldogs to its first title since 2003.

    But the team is confident that others are ready to step and take McCarthy’s place.

    “Despite the loss of Tom McCarthy, we should be able to sustain the success of last season,” Russell Holmes ’13 said. “A lot of our starting lineup is returning and our early season practices indicate a lot of competition within the team, which is key to maintaining a high level of play.”

    Before last season, the Ancient Eight title had proven elusive for the team, as the Bulldogs fell short of winning the league title for three straight years, finishing just a few strokes behind the winner each time.

    But the Bulldogs dominated last year’s Ivy League Championship, beating Columbia by 20 strokes at the Galloway National Golf Club and ending the Lions’ bid for a fourth consecutive Ivy title.

    “Our ultimate goal for the year is to defend our [title],” captain Jeff Hatten ’12 said. “If we all keep our goals in mind and commit to them I think we will have an excellent shot at repeating last year’s success.”

    The odds on a repeat title are in Yale’s favor, according to prominent college golf website Golfstat.com, which gave the Elis the top ranking in the Ivy League. But the team will face stiff competition from traditional powers such as Columbia, Penn, and Princeton.

    The Bulldogs are also expecting key contributions from William Davenport ’15 and Thomas Greenhalgh ’15 as well as walk–on John McNiff ’15. Davenport was ranked among the 200 junior golfers in the world by Golfweek and Greenhalgh was selected in 2009 to represent the U.K. on a tour of the U.S.

    “I think we have a very good team this year,” Kushner said. “We got three great freshman golfers this year that can easily fill the place [of the graduated seniors]. The rest of the team worked hard on their games over the summer.”

    Two of last season’s top performers, Hatten and Brad Kushner ’13, are expected to have another strong season. Both tied for fourth at the Ivy League Championship and were selected for the All–Ivy first team.

    Sam Bernstein ’14 will try to continue the momentum from an impressive freshman campaign, in which he notched five top–10 finishes and was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

    Last year, the Elis competed in the NCAA Regional Tournament for the first time since 2003 and finished 13th out of 22 schools, including national powerhouses Duke and Georgia Tech. A victory at the Ivy League Championship would guarantee a repeat appearance in this year’s tournament.

    “[The NCAA tournament] was a great experience and I know if we make it back this year, we can look to improve our performance from last year.” Kushner said.

  2. M. GOLF | Men dominate Sunday, win Ivies

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    Going into the final round of the Ivy League Championship, the men’s golf team was facing a second consecutive second place finish. But on Sunday, the team played to their potential and decisively captured the Ivy title.

    After a dominant third round performance, the team finished twenty strokes ahead of second place Columbia at Galloway National golf course. It was the team’s first Ivy title since 2003.

    On Sunday captain Thomas McCarthy ’11 took control, shooting an incredible -3 on the first 15 holes, and moving from sixth to first place. Two bogies would drop him to second before he would finish, but it still ranked as one of the most impressive single-day performances of the season.

    “After three years of heartbreak … I was going to do anything possible to win,” McCarthy said, referring to the team’s seasonal “tradition” of coming in second in the Ivy Championship. He discussed how the team had been disappointed in themselves after the second day, when they ended one stroke behind Penn. That night’s dinner, when the team gathered with their parents along with current and past coaches, the team had a chance to gather themselves.

    “The stories that were told, reminiscing about the season — it motivated us,” Jeffrey Hatten ’12 said. “Hearing the parents’ excitement, in whether we won or lost, was a big motivation.”

    Hatten shot +2 the final round to tie at fourth with teammate Bradley Kushner ’13. Sam Bernstein ’14 rounded out the group scoring +1 on Sunday, moving into ninth, to complete the commanding team performance. Coach Colin Sheehan ’97 emphasized that the victory was the result of a team effort. He also acknowledged the efforts of his predecessor, David Patterson.

    “I want to dedicate this championship to coach David Patterson, three of the five golfers today were recruited by him,” Sheehan said. “Having come close to [winning an Ivy Championship] only made us even more motivated.”

    McCarthy, who was the only Yale golfer to have previously played on the course, said that he had advised the team beforehand of Galloway’s challenges.

    “It’s a hard course, you always have to be thinking one or two shots ahead,” McCarthy said. “It takes the most strategy out of any course I’ve ever played.”

    The team will advance to the NCAA Regionals from May 19–21, where they will try to continue their championship level of play. McCarthy said that yesterday on the Galloway course, they played “as well as any team in the country could have expected to play.”

    For Bernstein, the success was nothing out of the ordinary.

    “We’re all capable of playing really well,” he said. “We have tons of talent … these were our expectations. We could’ve done better. We could’ve brought [our score] even lower.”

    Hatten says everyone on the team has this fierce competitiveness, and will bring it to regionals with the goal of getting to nationals.

    “We have a big underdog mentality going into this,” he said. “We stacked up with the best of them today … We can get whatever we put our minds to.”

    The Bulldogs will find out on May 9 which of the six regional tournaments they will be assigned to. 

  3. M. GOLF | In last tournament, Elis third

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    In its final match of the regular season, the men’s golf team was unable to add a second tournament win to last week’s Princeton Invitational victory.

    As host of the Century Intercollegiate tournament, Yale was able to field two separate teams against the six other colleges participating. But both would succumb to the tricky course at the tournament in Purchase, N.Y., finishing in third and eighth place. It was the final tune-up before the Ivy League Championship this weekend. Yale’s first team was in second place after the first round, but was unable to catch Harvard, or prevent George Washington from passing them. The Crimson and Colonials were six and five strokes ahead to finish first and second, respectively.

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    High winds, a temperature in the low 40s and rain prevented anyone from shooting lower than 77 (+6) the first day. Captain Thomas McCarthy ’11 and Jeff Hatten ’12 led Yale at +9, both tying for ninth place after Saturday. Weather aside, Hatten explained that the course is demanding in itself, attributing this difficulty to the fast, sloping greens. The wind, he said, only exaggerated the mistakes.

    The wind would continue into the next day, even as the sun came out to warm the course. However, all the players on both Yale teams would improve their scores. Michael Fader ’11 showed the most improvement, shooting 10 strokes lower in the second round for a 77, and moved up 13 places to finish 23rd out of 45 competitors.

    “I played like crap in round one, so I had quite a bit of room to improve,” Fader said.

    McCarthy would surge to fourth place, shooting a 75 to end at +13, the lowest score for the Bulldogs in the tournament. He said his improvement was due to a change in “mindset” — coming to accept that the conditions were going to force bad shots.

    “The key was to move on and give your best effort on the next one, to avoid a spiral of bad holes,” McCarthy said.

    The first team had the most consistent scores of any other college competing in the tournament, as all five Bulldogs fell within nine strokes of one another. Bradley Kushner ’13 said that consistency was one indication of the team’s overall depth, something which was visible even on the second squad. On that team, Carson Weinand ’13 and Russell Holmes ’13 scored in the same +13 to +22 range.

    “Teams need four solid scores in order to expect to be high on the leaderboard,” McCarthy said.

    Next week’s Ivy League Championships will be held at the notoriously challenging Galloway National golf course. Members of the team mentioned Penn, Harvard and Columbia as the teams to beat. However, they have also explained that the parity is such in the Ivies that any team has a legitimate shot to win.

    “The winner will be the team that plays the most consistently over the three days of the Ivy tournament,” Kushner said. “We need to play smart and just give it our all.”

    The team will tee-off this Friday in Galloway, N.J.

  4. M. GOLF | Bulldogs at home in Princeton

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    It may not have been as dramatic as the tiebreak win against Harvard, but for the second consecutive year the men’s golf team won the Princeton Invitational. It marked the first time the Bulldogs won a tournament since that thrilling victory over the Crimson last April.

    Sam Bernstein ’14 and Thomas McCarthy ’11 finished first and second individually, with scores of five and three shots under par, respectively. And at the end of the second day, the Yale squad was the only team in the field of 12 that averaged below par, at -4. Penn, which placed second, was six strokes behind the Bulldogs.

    Bernstein, who has been among the top finishers for Yale all season long, expressed his experience regarding collegiate competition not as one of handling outside pressure but finding motivation.

    “After a hard week of a Yale courseload it’s nice to get outside,” Bernstein said. “In your own little bubble, nothing else can divert your attention.”

    Bradley Kushner ’13 said that the Springdale Golf Club was a short course, which required patience in order to have success. It is a style typical of older courses, as Springdale was designed in 1915.

    “Springdale … demands excellent shot making and strategy,” he said. “We are a very cerebral team. We are good at thinking and planning our golf shots.”

    Kushner finished in 18th on Sunday. Bernstein — the overall first place finisher for the tournament — said keeping the ball in play was critical to having success on the course. His more experienced teammates’ continual emphasis on “staying patient,” held particularly true for Springdale.

    But Bernstein was quick to emphasize the relative difficulty of a course like Galloway National, the location of this year’s Ivy Championship. This weekend provided a possible glimpse of what that tournament could look like, as seven of the Ivy League teams were competing at Springdale.

    “Anything around par will be a good score,” he said. “Of course, it’s all based on conditions. It’s great to win as many of these events that we can, but our season is defined by the Ivy Championship.”

    The Bulldogs will return to competition this Saturday at the Century Intercollegiate in Purchase, New York.

  5. GOLF | Spring season starts with a bang

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    Joy Kim ’13 notched a hole-in-one for the women, the men upset a nationally ranked team, and Yale golf looked hot in its return to competition after a hiatus of almost five months.

    The men added a second place finish in the George Washington Invitational after stunning No. 26 Notre Dame, while the women defeated Longwood in a dual meet and had a first-place finish in the William and Mary Spring Invitational over spring break.

    Seo Hee Moon ’14 paced the women to first-place finishes in its last two tournaments of the fall season, and the women picked up where they left off over a successful spring break. Moon and fellow rookie, Sun Park ’14, led the team to its first victory of 2011 as they shot an even par 70 and a two-over 72, respectively, in Yale’s 295–313 victory over Longwood Universisty in Lake Wales, Fla. on March 15.

    The team then flew north to Virginia for the William and Mary competition where the grass had not yet turned green, but the team kept its performance up. Moon’s Saturday six-under 66 round was the best of the tournament and tied a personal best, but it was Joy Kim ’13 who had the individual highlight of the weekend for Yale: a hole in one.

    Kim rode her big shot to an eighth place finish overall, and Yale won the tournament with a 30-over par finish, ten strokes ahead of second-place St. John’s.

    The men’s team returned to play on March 14 with a contest against heavily favored No. 26 Notre Dame. But, led by captain Thomas McCarthy ’11 and rookie Sam Bernstein ’14, the Elis eked out a narrow 606–607 win.

    “We rose to challenge and played the underdog role,” Bernstein said. “We tried to be as aggressive as could. If we lost, we were expected to lose. But if we won, we knew it would be a boost to the season.”

    Though the contest was decided by a razor-thin one-stroke margin, the Elis on the course did not know quite how close the score was. Bernstein said he imagined he had lost the match for the Elis when he missed a two-foot putt on the last hole. But Yale’s 303–305 lead from the first day held up, and Yale pulled off the upset. The team headed into the George Washington Invitational in Bethany Beach, Del. four days later with the momentum in its favor.

    But although the men rolled through the first round of the three-day tournament, they could not sustain that performance. The team finished with a higher score in each successive round — a 297 and a 303 after a first-round 285 — and finished in second, five strokes behind Penn.

    “Our first round was pretty fantastic,” Bernstein said. “But we fell off a bit and couldn’t build on the first day, which was disappointing. That will serve as a motivation going forward. While Penn is a a good team and has some talent, we feel like on our best day we should be able to handle them.”

    The men’s season continues with three more tournaments, including the Yale Spring Opener on April 2, before the all-important Ivy League Championships in late April. The women next play at the Georgetown Hoya Invitational on March 28.

  6. M. GOLF | Elis take second at Macdonald Cup

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    After a sixth place finish on Saturday in the Yale-hosted Macdonald Cup, the men’s golf team pulled a major comeback through rough, windy conditions to take second place on its home turf.

    And although second place is not complete victory, head coach Colin Sheehan ’97 said any top finish on such a difficult course is noteworthy.

    “[Heading into the tournament] I didn’t think for a second we deserved to finish first or second,” Sheehan said. “Each year we have to earn it. I’m delighted we were able to take advantage of our home course.”

    A total of 13 teams competed in the tournament, including Ivy foes Dartmouth and Harvard, who tied for fifth and took seventh, respectively.

    St. John’s University, who held the lead after round one of play on Saturday, retained its lead on Sunday and ultimately claimed first place with a combined score of 565, 5 over par.

    Captain Tom McCarthy ’11 said the Bulldogs would have needed a “career day” on Sunday in order to catch up to St. John’s.

    Yale shot a cumulative 580 (+20), while Binghamton University took third with a cumulative 582 (+22).

    Brad Kushner ’13 led the Bulldogs in individual standings, tying for tenth place with a cumulative 143 (+3).

    Kushner, who managed to shoot even-par on Sunday despite tough conditions, said he was very pleased with his performances both days, and he knew what he needed to work on for next weekend.

    Russell Holmes ’13 tied for 12th, shooting a 144 (+4). Sheehan, McCarthy and Kushner all praised Holmes’ performance this weekend. Sheehan said Holmes’ 71 on Sunday was crucial for the team’s successful comeback. He added that Holmes had worked a great deal on his golf game this summer.

    “It’s quite obvious,” Sheehan said. “He is very consistent and very competitive.”

    Holmes said has been focusing on the consistency of his ball striking and keeping the driver in play. He added it pays off especially on windy days like Sunday when the slightest miscues can turn into bogeys.

    McCarthy tied for twenty-second with a 147 (+7). He said his putts were not dropping this weekend, had a strong effect on where Yale finished in the tournament. He added that while not playing well on one’s home course can be frustrating at times, it also was a boost because he knew of certain holes of which he could take advantage.

    Jeff Hatten ’12 tied for thirty-fourth, shooting a 150 (+10). Sam Bernstein ’14 tied for forty-sixth with a 152 (+12).

    While McCarthy said he is disappointed the team did not win its home tournament, Sheehan said he was proud of the team’s perseverance on Sunday through tough conditions.

    “While the conditions were ideal on Saturday, the Yale course is still a very difficult challenge…. even under ideal conditions,” Sheehan said.

    Holmes said the team’s performance over the past few weekends has been gathering momentum for next weekend’s tournament, The Big Five, at the Plymouth Country Club in Plymouth Meeting, PA. 

    Kushner said the team is looking to improve upon its third place finish last year and that he is looking forward to next week’s tournament at The Big Five at the Plymouth Country Club in Plymouth Meeting, PA. 

    “I like our chances,” Sheehan said. “I like where we are as a team. We are training up. We are on the verge of playing the type of golf we are really capable of playing.”

  7. A classic American course

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    Yale has always been known for its architecture, from Sterling Memorial Library to the Yale Bowl. But a mere 12-minute drive from campus, there is an architectural gem of a different variety.

    Earlier this month, Golfweek magazine ranked Yale’s golf course, The Course at Yale, the number one college golf course in the magazine’s “Best Campus Courses” in 2010.

    “At Yale, the golf course is as good as the education,” said Scott Ramsay, the course’s superintendant.

    Bradley Klein, Golfweek’s architecture editor, said he and a team of 625 course evaluators stationed around the world rank golf courses in various categories. Klein has been in charge of “Golfweek’s Best” for the last 16 years, he said.

    According to “Golfweek’s Best Courses Rater Handbook 2010-’11,” the evaluators judge courses based on 10 criteria, including the overall land plan, variety and memorability of various pars, conditioning, integrity of design (for classic courses) and quality of shaping (for modern courses).

    Golfweek’s acknowledgement of Yale’s course, which has also been ranked among the overall top 100 courses in the United States in various other publications, is another accolade for a course that already had a storied past.

    BACK TO THE ROARING ’20s

    In 1924, Sarah Tompkins gave 700 acres of land to Yale in memory of her husband, Ray Tompkins, class of 1884. Yale employed United State Golf Association co-founder and legendary golf course architect Charles Blair McDonald to design each of the 18 holes. Famed golf course architects Seth Raynor and Charles Banks implemented McDonald’s designs.

    The $400,000 final product, which opened in 1926, was one of the most expensive golf courses ever built at the time, Klein said.

    Men’s head golf coach Colin Sheehan ’97 added that the course is a relic of the Roaring ’20s, going hand-in-hand with Yale’s other ambitious projects of the time, including the residential colleges, the Yale Bowl and Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

    Peter Pulaski, director of golf operations at The Course at Yale, said the course is one of the best examples of early American golf architecture.

    “I find it amazing that the people involved did what they did with very little modern machinery,” Pulaski said.

    Klein said the architects adopted British and Scottish elements on an enormous piece of land with lots of rock, heavy soil and dramatic trees, resulting in a course of Gothic proportions.

    “There’s nothing soft about it,” Klein said. “It’s very pronounced and theatrical.”

    Furthermore, Klein said the top-quality course was designed for a top-quality golf program; Yale went on to win four NCAA championships in the 1930s.

    TENDING THE GARDEN

    Yet over time, the golf course lost its classical charm. Klein said the ’80s and ’90s were periods of modernization to a “softer, Florida look.” In September 2003, Klein went as far as to say, the course in was “a landmark gone askew.”

    Ramsay, who has studied golf course architecture for 20 years, came to the Yale golf course six years ago and began the on-going turnaround.

    “I took a photograph of [the golf course from] 1934, and I studied the bunker profiles, the tree lines, the fairway mowing lines and the shapes of the greens,” he said. “I got a sense of what the original intent of the architect was.”

    Sheehan said Ramsay restored the fairway and green sizes to their original specifications, solved drainage problems and cleaned up the tree lines.

    After trimming trees and mowing lines, Ramsay said he is still only halfway there. There is more tree work to complete, along with leveling tees, improving drainage and upgrading the agronomy.

    Klein said that in “Golfweek’s Best” judging criteria, Yale has stood out in its conditioning — or quality of course maintenance. He said Ramsay, who won Golfweek’s Superintendant of the Year award in 2006, understands the classical design of the golf course.

    In particular, Klein said Ramsay has made the bunkers more severe and stark as opposed to the “Florida look.”

    “We’re a throwback,” Ramsay said. “The course is not tidy and park-like. We let things get overgrown … This lends itself well to being very environmentally friendly.”

    As to whether or not use of the golf course has increased as a result of the course’s improvements, Ramsay said the course play at Yale has held its own through the recession.

    PLAYING THE GREEN

    Ramsay and Pulaski’s efforts have attracted top golfers to play for Yale.

    Klein said that regardless of where a golfer attends college, he or she develops an emotional relationship with the golf course. In the case of Yale, the course is unique because it syncs with the museum quality of the rest of the campus.

    Men’s golf captain Tom McCarthy ’11, who was named the Ivy League Player of the Year last year, said the accessibility of the course to campus, as well as the challenging nature of the course, were clinchers for him.

    “When you’re playing a very hard course, you’re more likely to get better,” he said. “Princeton and Cornell have good courses, but ours is much more challenging.”

    McCarthy added the severe nature of the property, with elevation changes, gives off an intimidating visual appearance. Because golf is a very mental and visual game, hazards and uphill shots may cause even the best players to make a mistakes.

    Women’s golf captain Alyssa Roland ’11 said the golf course at Yale helped her choose to between Yale and Harvard, as Harvard’s course is farther away from campus and the school does not own it.

    “[The course] makes golf a whole new sport,” Roland said.

    Women’s golf coach Chawwadee Rompothong ’00 said that while she did not think the golf course was necessarily the clincher for her players to attend Yale, the course experience, including an extremely supportive staff, made the course very attractive.

    “There is no question the course helps [to attract players],” Sheehan said. “The University is its own attraction for students, and then the golf course seals the deal.”

    He added: “The design of the Yale Golf Course belongs in the elite echelon of golf architecture in America. It does deserve to be considered one of the top 20 courses in the country.”

    Correction: Sept. 29, 2010

    Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article misattributed the final quote. It was given by men’s head golf coach Colin Sheehan ’97, not women’s coach Chawwadee Rompothong ’00.

  8. M. GOLF | Off-week for Bulldogs at Adams Cup

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    Physical and mental fatigue got the better of the men’s golf team Monday and Tuesday at the Adams Cup in Newport, R.I.: The Bulldogs took ninth place out of 17 teams in the tournament, posting a combined score of 908 (+44).

    “I have to admit they looked pretty run-down after playing 36 holes Monday,” said head coach Colin Sheehan ’97.

    The University of Central Florida finished far ahead of the competition to take the top spot. The Knightros’ three-round cumulative score of 868 was only four above par. The second-place finisher, the University of West Florida, had a cumulative score of 886, 22 shots above par. Brown, which took 17th place, was the only other Ivy team competing in the tournament.

    Captain Tom McCarthy ’11 finished with the lowest score for the five Eli golfers competing, tying for 14th place with a cumulative 223 (+7). Brad Kushner ’13 tied for 24th with a cumulative 226, 10 shots over par, while Sam Bernstein ’14 tied for 33rd with a 228 (+12).

    “Personally, I was looking forward to this week because we have a great team, and we are going to be very successful. I thought with better teams coming we could show people what we got,” McCarthy said.

    Sheehan said the 25 mph wind blowing Monday was a hindrance to the Bulldogs’ performance. Kushner said the key to managing such difficult conditions was to stay patient and focused. Unfortunately, he said, the Elis lacked patience during the first round, while the other teams were able to take shots one at a time and play in the moment.

    Bernstein said he struggled with consistency in the tournament, shooting anywhere from an Eagle to a bogey to two eight-over-pars.

    “I’m swinging really well … but not doing anything with my rounds, which makes it more frustrating,” he said.

    McCarthy said it is this frustration the team needs to learn how to handle, adding that each person needs to focus more on individual shots and react better to missed or bad shots rather than getting overly emotionally involved.

    Looking ahead, the Elis will host the Macdonald Cup on Oct. 2 and 3. Sheehan said that with 36 holes of golf to play on Oct. 2, the team will work on physical conditioning.

    “We will get some rest and have a fresh new mindset,” McCarthy added.

    Bernstein said the low rounds shot by McCarthy and Kushner in past tournaments on the home course coupled with his own success in the Borsodi Tournament at Yale earlier this season means there is a lot of Bulldog talent available for the Macdonald Cup.

    Ultimately, Kushner said this week’s performance was just an off-week for Yale.

    “Some days and some weeks, you just don’t play the best golf,” he said. “We didn’t play to best of our ability. There is not any main reason behind it.”

  9. M. GOLF | Elis dominate rivals in first match

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    The men’s golf team proved it’s still an Ivy League powerhouse Sunday at its first match of the season, defeating Harvard and Princeton decisively in a tri-match event at the Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton, NY.

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    Unlike the stroke-play format more commonly used in collegiate golf, in match play golfers compete against one player from each of the other teams in the quest to win the most holes in one round of golf. Yale finished first, winning eight of the 10 matches, while Harvard took second place in front of the Tigers.

    A mix of old and new Bulldog talent rose to the occasion in the Eli win. Brad Kushner ’13 defeated Bernie D’Amato of Princeton and Mark Pollak of Harvard 6 and 4, meaning that he had shot lower scores than his opponents on six more holes by the time there were only four holes remaining on the 18-hole course. Since Kushner had already attained an insurmountable lead, there was no need to complete the final four holes. Captain Tom McCarthy ’11 defeated Evan Harmeling of Princeton 6 and 4 and Antonio Grillo of Harvard 4 and 3, while Jeff Hatten ’12 beat Princeton’s Patrick Wasserman 5 and 4 and Harvard’s Conner Wentzel one-up, meaning that Hatten shot lower scores on one more hole than Wentzel after 18 holes.

    Head coach Colin Sheehan ’97 said he was particularly impressed by the play of Kushner, who was competing for the first time at the number one seed.

    “I wouldn’t say there was added pressure playing number one,” Kushner said. “I just wanted to represent Yale in a nice fashion.”

    Finally, freshman standout Sam Bernstein ’14 proved he’s more than ready for collegiate-level competition, crushing Harvard’s Theodore Lederhausen 8 and 7, while edging out Princeton’s Eric Salazar 2 and 1.

    “I never really got to experience what it was like to play with a team at an event [in high school],” Bernstein said. “The feeling that I got on the range and when I was playing was different … I think it can only help my golf just because we have such a great team.”

    On the road to victory, Bernstein said, the team faced 20 mph winds blowing sideways, but adjusted accordingly.

    While both McCarthy and Sheehan described the competition as “friendly,” Sheehan said any occasion to play against Harvard and Princeton is one the team would like to win.

    In addition to an opportunity to play against Ivy League competition, Sheehan said the Sebonack Golf Course itself — a championship venue with seaside views — was a welcome opportunity for the Elis.

    Yale will play in the Adams Cup on Sept. 20 and 21 in Newport, R.I.

    McCarthy added that while it is nice to have one victory under the team’s belt, Harvard has two talented freshmen who he thinks did not play to their full potential.

    “It’s good to have taken an early lead,” Sheehan said of the victory against Harvard and Princeton. “But there is still going to be plenty of golf to be played [this season].”

  10. M. GOLF | Elis eye title in improved Ivy League

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    With three promising freshmen and four returning starters, including reigning Ivy League Player of the Year and captain Tom McCarthy ’11, the men’s golf team heads into the upcoming season with a profound sense of optimism.

    But they’re hardly alone in the Ivy League. Brad Kushner ’13 said the overall level of competitiveness in the league has risen in the last five years.

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    “I’m very proud of the conference,” head coach Colin Sheehan ’97 said. “[The Ivy League] had four players [including McCarthy] in the U.S. Amateur this past month. That’s a benchmark of the strength of the college conference.”

    And the freshman recruits certainly fit in with the new benchmark. Both Sam Bernstein ’14 and Sean Gaudette ’14 have had outstanding junior careers, Kushner said. Bernstein in particular was a top recruit for the Ivy League.

    “We’re lucky enough to get him,” Kushner said.

    Sheehan said Bernstein has already made an impact on the program, becoming the first freshman to win the Borsodi Championship, a Yale-only event, in the tournament’s over 25-year history.

    Such early achievements have helped Sheehan set impressive goals for the season, including another victory in the Yale-hosted MacDonald Cup in October, and, ultimately, a victory at the Ivy Championship in the spring.

    “That’s quite a ways away,” Sheehan said. “But that’s always our goal. … We will make every sacrifice necessary to win it.”

    Yale took second at the championship last year, a mere three strokes behind the eventual winner, Columbia.

    But McCarthy said there is good reason to think this year’s team has what it takes to claim the ultimate victory in Ivy League golf, especially since last year’s starting freshmen, Kushner and Carson Weinand ’13, will only improve.

    The Bulldogs will play in their first tournament of the season this weekend against Harvard and Princeton at the Sebonack Country Club in Southhampton, N.Y.

    “[The tournament] lapsed for 15 years … it’s a friendly competition, but it’s something I know the boys would like to win right away,” Sheehan said.

    Kushner said the quality of the upscale golf course, which was designed in part by golf legend Jack Nicklaus, is just as exciting as the competition.

    Sheehan added that the team should know within the first couple of tournaments where it stands, as the Elis will face fierce competition early on in the season.

    McCarthy said the team is already challenging itself everyday in practice. Furthermore, unlike the start of the spring season, most of the Yale golfers played extensively over the summer, which helps eliminate first-tournament kinks.

    “If we play like we’re supposed to, it’s going to be a great year,” McCarthy said.

  11. GOLF | Bulldogs fall to Ivy opponents

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    The men’s and women’s golf teams struggled to overcome tough weather conditions and Ivy foes on the road this past weekend.

    The men’s team finished fifth at the Caves Valley Invitational after taking first place in its last two tournaments, and the women took third at the ROAR-EE Invitational behind Harvard and Penn.

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    After 16 days with no tournament play, the women’s golf team stepped back up to the tee Friday and took third place at the ROAR-EE Invitational with a cumulative score of 619. Five other Ivy teams competed in the tournament, which captain Taylor Lee ’10 said was a great way to prepare for the upcoming Ivy Championship.

    Lee said Harvard and Penn proved to be the toughest competition at this tournament, which was hosted by Columbia in Suffern, N.Y. Harvard took first place, shooting a cumulative 603, while Penn took second with a 613.

    Although the Bulldogs were in second place behind Harvard going into the second round of the tournament, they dropped to third place in the second and final day of play.

    “The second day it was a lot windier, especially on the back nine,” Alyssia Roland ’11 said. “Also, the back nine was even tighter than the front nine, and the pin placement on the final day was frequently on a side slope, which made shorter putts more difficult.”

    Alexandra Lipa ’13 led the Elis, finishing tied for fifth place in the individual standings. She was tied for first place at the end of the first round, but ultimately she shot a cumulative 151 on the par-72 course. Roland and Harriet Owers-Bradley ’11 tied for 15th with a cumulative 155. Callie Kemmer ’12 tied for 25th with a 158, while Cassie Boles ’11 finished tied for 49th with a cumulative 163.

    Roland said that while her team members all have great swings, Harvard and Penn were able to beat the Bulldogs because of putting. She said the fact that they were sinking birdies and making par led to lower scores.

    Owers-Bradley said that because the team leaves Wednesday for the Ivy Championships at Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J., the Elis have only a few days to improve their game.

    The men’s golf team also fell to Penn this weekend, taking fifth place out of nine teams at the Yale-hosted Caves Valley Spring Intercollegiate in Owings Mill, Md. This was the Bulldogs first loss in close to a month.

    “You can’t win them all,” Brad Kushner ’13 said.

    The Elis shot a cumulative 625 to tie with Cornell.

    The Quakers finished with a cumulative 612, while Harvard took second with a 617. The Princeton Tigers shot a 622 for third.

    Captain Ben Wescoe ’10 said the strong winds and fast putting greens made for some tough rounds of golf.

    Tom McCarthy ’11 led the Bulldogs, tying for second place.

    McCarthy said he was able to grind out some decent scores and keep his playing together Saturday and Sunday, despite the conditions.

    “I was fortunate to finish in second,” he said.

    Kushner finished second for the Bulldogs, followed by Wescoe, Carson Weinand ’13 and Brandon Marick ’11.

    Kushner said that after hitting the ball extremely well the past three weeks, this weekend he struggled with ball placement. He said he would short side himself on approaches to the green, leaving him with a tough putt.

    “This wasn’t our best showing, and we have a few things to work on before Ivies,” Wescoe said. “But we are still very confident and know we will be ready to win next week.”

    Kushner said this tournament was much less important than the Ivies, and he likes the team’s position heading into the conference competition.

    “This puts the fire back in our bodies, and we want a victory next week more than ever,” Kushner said. “Hopefully our troubles this week will be a blessing in disguise.”

    Wescoe said the team will be working on ball-striking and putting to prepare for the Ivies.

    Both the men’s and women’s golf teams will be competing in the Ivy Championship at the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., from April 23 to April 26.