Men's Golf Finishes Fifth at Ivy Tourney

At the Ivy League Championships in Galloway, N.J., this weekend, freshman Greg Shuman garnered first-team All-Ivy honors, but the Harvard men’s golf team finished in fifth place out of eight teams.

The golfers arrived back in Cambridge yesterday with a team score of 931, 27 strokes behind the first-place Penn. Brown came in second (914), followed by Columbia (921) and Yale (927). Harvard finished the weekend 79 strokes over par.

Many of the Crimson golfers were disappointed with the results and with the quality of play.

“The team underperformed, but obviously this is a real reflection of how the team stacks up against other teams,” Shuman said. “You are what you shoot. We didn’t shoot our potential. I would argue that happened almost all year long and was exemplified by today.”

Shuman led the competition during the first two rounds on Saturday, only to finish in fourth place yesterday. The freshman ended up two strokes behind the individual champion, Columbia’s Chris Condello.

Shuman said he was “knee deep in divets” during the third round, which he finished seven strokes over par.

Freshman Danny Mayer finished 19th individually, scoring 21 strokes over par. He had three birdies during the second round, his best round of the weekend.

“My ball striking, my putting were just off all three days, all three rounds,” Mayer said. “Generally, on the back nine, we lost focus because we lost shots towards the end of the rounds.”

The players noted that the greens were fast and undulating.

“It was hard to make a putt if you didn’t control your distances very well and put your ball in the right spots on the green,” Shuman said.

One highlight for Harvard was freshman Peter Singh’s eagle on the third hole Sunday. He hit a long, soaring shot that bounced one before dropping in the cup.

“Parents who were watching started yelling and clapping,” Singh said.

Aside from the eagle, however, Singh said that he had a “tough time around the green.”

Sophomore Michael Shore and senior Thomas Hegge each finished 33rd and 34th, shooting 246 and 247, respectively.