Crimson Repeats As Ivy Champs

One of the hardest things to do in sports is defend a championship, but the Harvard women’s golf team managed to make it look easy, winning seven of eight tournaments this season and placing second in the other.The latest and greatest victory came this weekend in the Ivy League Championships at Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, N.J., where the Crimson held off a final-round charge by Yale to win by two strokes and claim the league title for the second year in a row.“Yale played fantastic today,” Harvard coach Kevin Rhoads said. “It did end up getting really close, but we did our job.”Four Crimson golfers made it into the top-10, led by third-place individual finisher junior Claire Sheldon, who shot a third-round 75 to finish nine-over par for the 54-hole three-day tournament. Senior Emily Balmert, freshman Christine Cho, and senior Ali Bode all joined her in the top-10.Harvard jumped out to an early lead Friday and Saturday, as its first-round score of 306 and second-round 295 were both tops in the seven-squad field.“We really stressed the importance of playing a complete 18 holes and not getting too concerned with any one hole at any stage in a round,” Rhoads said. “We just stayed patient and played great on the back, which I thought was a harder nine.”Holding an eight-stroke lead over the Bulldogs heading into the last day, the team made a decision to play more conservatively on the course’s first hole in order to protect its comfortable position on the scoreboard.“We just decided to avoid the bunkers at all costs—even if it meant risking the birdie shot—to protect par,” Balmert said.The Crimson was well-aware that victory was not yet assured, despite the sizeable margin.“Eight strokes, when there are four or five scores counting, is not that much at all,” Balmert said. “We all knew that we had to play our best, and we couldn’t count on a cushion going into the last day.”Those thoughts proved prophetic, as Yale got out to a great start Sunday and began steadily cutting the Harvard lead hole-by-hole. By the 13th green, the two rivals were tied.But Sheldon, who also had an excellent second round score of 73, was clutch down the stretch as a member of the last playing group.“I saw our coach more than I usually do, so I had the feeling that it was pretty close,” Sheldon said.Amidst a flurry of pars, the par-3 17th hole proved to be the difference-maker—Sheldon’s birdie combined with a Yale golfer’s bogey to separate the two teams for good.“[On the 17th hole] you can’t go over the green, because you’ll have a tough chip coming back, so club selection is really key,” Sheldon said. “I chose a six-iron today…and I hit it awesome—a little too aggressive, but it worked out beautifully. It was less than two feet from the hole. It was certainly a confidence-booster going into 18.”Not far behind Sheldon were the Crimson’s go-to veteran and rookie combo, Balmert and Cho, who tied for fourth overall at10 over par.The seasoned Balmert was a model of consistency, shooting three, four, and three strokes over par in her three rounds. Having played the course in the championship last year, she had a few back-nine difficulties early but averaged only two bogeys for the next two rounds.“It was pretty familiar turf,” Balmert said. “Today, I was pretty level-headed and played consistent golf. I tried to make the course as easy as possible by staying out of trouble.”Cho, the newly-crowned Ivy League rookie of the year, took a more dramatic approach, accumulating 10 bogeys in her opening round.“For some reason I didn’t really feel warmed up with my game in general, and I made a lot of stupid mistakes,” Cho said.But she quickly adjusted and found her rhythm, and her even-par 72 in the second round was the team’s best round of the tournament. “The first round, I made a lot of mistakes with my approach shots, so the second round I was able to not make the same mistakes,” Cho said. Leading the team early on with a first-round score of 74, Bode rounded out the top 10, finishing 16 strokes over par. Sophomore Mia Kabasakalis was three strokes behind in a tie for 14th place.The victory continues the growth of the Harvard women’s golf program, which has steadily improved ever since coach Rhoads’ hiring five seasons ago.“I love where the program is headed,” Balmert said. “The director of golf has a very strong vision for our team, and our coach is absolutely amazing.”—Staff writer Dennis J. Zheng can be reached at dzheng12@college.harvard.edu.