Women's Golf Streaks Past Field at ECACs

Claire Sheldon and the Harvard women’s golf team made history and finished first this weekend at the ECAC Division I Championships.

In the first round, the Crimson shot a 296, the lowest score in the history of the women’s golf program. That same day, Sheldon, a sophomore, shot a 68, tying the individual school record.

“We had a very strong and successful tournament,” coach Kevin Rhoads said. “The whole team played well.”

Harvard claimed first place this weekend with a total score of 600. The score was one shot off the course record at Kiskiack Country Club in Williamsburg, Va.

The second place team in the tournament, Lehigh, was 19 strokes back, and the third place squad, Boston College, was 31 strokes back.

By the end of the first day, the Crimson led second-place Lehigh by 11 strokes, and Sheldon led the individual field by seven strokes.

Sheldon’s one-day individual school record of 68 (4-under) came with a strong end-of-the-round performance. She one-putted each of the last five holes and birdied three of the last five holes.

“It was fun to be that sharp and have it all come together,” Sheldon said. “It was just my day.”

According to Sheldon, the momentum of the round shifted during the 14th hole, which she one-putted after a nice chip.

On Saturday, Sheldon did not miss a single green.

“What Claire did was probably the highlight of the weekend,” Rhoads said. “She punctuated the end of our first round, and I was very happy for her.”

Sheldon’s second-round score of 77 was good enough to make her the tournament’s individual champion by six strokes. The difference in performance was, according to Sheldon, due to her short game: she only needed 27 putts on Saturday but totaled 36 on Sunday.

This win is the second of the year for Harvard, having finished on top at the Dartmouth Invitational in September.

The team encountered some problems on a difficult course at the Yale Fall Intercollegiate last week but came back this week to dominate an easier course, according to Rhoads.

“It’s always great to win,” Rhoads said. “We played well at Yale, but the Yale course was a little more difficult. This was a pretty difficult course, but we still shot the course record.”

This tournament was Harvard’s most dominant performance of the year. After the first round, the team had a commanding lead, and on Sunday, Harvard kept playing strong, recording a score of 304 for that day.

The individual leader board bled with Crimson after Sunday’s play, as Harvard golfers claimed the top four spots. Sheldon led the field with 145 strokes (68-77), and sophomore Sarah Harvey took second place with 151 strokes (75-76).

“There were some problems, but overall I can’t complain,” Harvey said of her play.

Junior Emily Balmert took third with 152 strokes (76-76), and junior Ali Bode tied for fourth with a 153 (77-76). Captain Jessica Hazlett tied for ninth with a score of 155 (79-76).