SEASON RECAP: Youth Drives Season’s Success

For many college sports teams, graduation is the enemy—an annual exodus of the team’s most experienced and often most talented players.

For the Harvard women’s golf team, however, the loss of three seniors—almost half of its roster—provided the opportunity for new talent to take the reins.

It was freshman Ali Bode who set the tone for the upcoming year, earning a share of first-place honors in the season-opening Dartmouth Invitational.

“As a freshman, it was great for her to contribute that way,” Crimson coach Kevin Rhoads said of Bode’s promising start to the season.

Harvard set a new high-water mark for itself in the event, finishing third and breaking the Crimson record for one-day scoring by nine strokes. After limping to seventh at the Princeton Invitational the following week, the team regained its form in the next event, tying for third out of a field of 10 teams at the Yale Invitational.

The Crimson continued its winning ways, breaking the Harvard one-day scoring record once again in taking second at the William and Mary Invitational. The following week, the Crimson closed out the fall season with a first-place finish at the ECAC Division I Championships.

Spring proved equally successful for Harvard, as it began the season by rattling off second- and first-place finishes in consecutive weeks. The young talent proved itself once again in the spring opener, as it was Bode, sophomore Jessica Hazlett, and freshman Emily Balmert who led the way.

“The freshmen have been great this season, especially starting off this spring trip,” junior Jacqueline Rooney said. “A lot of times when you take time off, playing can be a little erratic at first, but our freshmen have gotten into it completely and have been good about team competition.”

With its younger players continuing to improve with each match, the Crimson appeared to be gathering momentum as it headed into the Ivy League Championships. After the first day of the weekend-long event, Harvard was in second place and within striking distance of the Ivy title.

Unfortunately for the Crimson, Mother Nature refused to cooperate. The second day of the event was cancelled due to rain, leaving the Crimson just short of a championship victory.

With the underclassmen making such a strong impression, however, the team remained hopeful for titles in future years.

“Harvard’s really making a name for itself,” Balmert said following the second-place finish. “[We’re] saying, ‘Hey, we’re a threat, and we’re going to win this next year.’”

—Staff writer Daniel J. Rubin-Wills can be reached at drubin@fas.harvard.edu.