M. Golf Finishes Second at Ivy Tourney

We've all had those bad days that throw the whole week a little bit off.

In golf, a bad round can be equivalent to a bad day at the office--one bad round, and the final results in a tournament can be thrown awry.

In last weekend's Ivy League Championships, the Harvard men's golf team overcame a rough first round by rebounding to a second-place tie with Dartmouth. Princeton took first in the two-day tournament.

Although the Crimson did not take home the lvy League title, its ability to withstand an unfortunate start was commendable.

The tournament--which took place in Bethpage, New York--proved to be a test of will for the Crimson squad. Plagued by a difficult course and an injury to a key player--junior Jun Choo--the Crimson fought hard throughout.

The tournament featured the top five competitors from each school. After each of the three rounds, the best four individual scores were compiled for a team score.

The Crimson came into the event confident of its talent after defeating Princeton and Yale on April 6, at Princeton.

Yet in Friday's first round, the Crimson had difficulties adapting to the treacherous and long course (7100 yards). The well-known course is expected to host the U.S. Open in the near future.

"We went in knowing that the course is set up for us," co-captain Jack Wylie said. "Hard courses favor us because we are better technically. We put a little too much pressure on ourselves in the first round."

With two sophomores--Ed Boyda and Luis Sanchez--who had never experienced this course before, combined with unfavorable conditions, the first round was an adjusting stage for the Crimson.

After the first round, the Crimson was in fourth place with score of 327.

Although the Crimson had another disappointment when Choo injured his back in the middle of the second round, it still was able to overcome the obstacles and finish the last two rounds Harvard-style. Choo's injury ultimately put more pressure on the rest of the team since each of the four remaining player's scores would count.

"If Jun would have been in top form, it would have made a huge difference," junior co-captain Joel Radtke said. "We had to be mentally tougher and realize that we were all going to count."

And mentally tough they were.

In the second round, the Crimson lowered its first round score by seven strokes leaving it in fourth place.

In the final round, the Crimson displayed the talent that it has demonstrated throughout the season. Harvard finished the round with a low score of 308, pushing it past the Eli into a tie for second place.

The players scores improved each day, which ultimately propelled the Crimson into second place despite its catastrophic first round.

Individually, Radtke finished second with a 229. Wylie placed sixth with a score of 235.

"I thought that we played well enough to win," Wylie said. In the last two rounds, we obviously showed that we had the talent to win. We had the teams scared in the last two rounds."

The Crimson had one bad round, and in the end, that round prevented them from defeating the Tigers.

"We have had a great season overall," Radtke said. "We won the Harvard-Yale-Princeton match and finished a strong second in Ivies. This year--out of nowhere--we have become a contender in every tournament we play. We are no longer just trying to do respectively. We are trying to win."

Today the Crimson competes in the Greater Boston Championships where its primary competition will be provided by B.C.