Women's Golf Wins Ivies on Last Putt

The women’s golf Ivy League Championships came down to the last putt. Freshman Christine Lin sank it to give Harvard a one-stroke victory over Princeton for the Crimson’s second straight Ivy League team title.

After leading her team to the Ivy team title, Lin played a one-hole playoff for the individual title against the Ivy League Player of the Year, junior Kelly Shon of Princeton. Lin shot a one-under final round to catch Shon at two-over for the weekend, but the freshman lost by one stroke in the playoff.

Despite the runner-up finish, Lin’s excellent final round helped the Crimson defend the team title. The freshman was the only golfer to shoot under par on the day and earned Ivy Rookie of the Year honors for her consistent play.

On the weekend, Harvard finished with an overall score of 909 (+45), just ahead of Princeton (+46). Yale (+66), Columbia (+80), and Penn (+90) rounded out the top five at the tournament.

The Tigers and the Crimson separated themselves from the field fairly early in the weekend, making it a two-team fight in round three on Sunday for the championship.

Harvard entered the final round with a five-shot lead over Princeton, but Tiger freshman Alexandra Wong shot a final round 75 (+3) to move up five spots and help Princeton challenge the Crimson on the final few holes. Harvard held a one shot lead as the final pairing of the day, Lin and Shon, teed off on the 18th. The Crimson went on to win as both players bogeyed the final hole.

“We just wanted to come out [on Sunday] and play the same way we had been all weekend,” said Harvard junior captain Bonnie Hu, who is also a Crimson business editor. “As a team, we did a really good job of treating Sunday like any other round of golf.”

Harvard was able to maintain the lead on Sunday with freshman Courtney Hooton shooting a 75 (+3) and sophomore Tiffany Lim shooting a 77 (+5) to back up Lin’s 71. The Crimson finished the day with a team total of 304.

After round one on Friday afternoon, Harvard held a three-shot lead over the Tigers. The Crimson finished with 304 strokes on the round behind strong play from Lin, who shot 73 (+1) and Hu, who finished with 74 (+2). Hu, who won the Ivy individual title last season, followed up her strong first round with another 74 on Saturday to help Harvard extend its lead against Princeton.

Lin and Hooton earned All-Ivy first team honors while Hu was named to the second team.

“One of the things we tried to focus on this weekend was being patient,” Hu said. “We knew coming in the course was going to be really tough, so we had to have the mindset that every shot could be the difference.”

Overall, the Crimson had its best team round on Saturday, shooting 13-over to tie for the lowest single-round score for any team all weekend. Hooton shot the lowest score for the Crimson on Saturday with a 73 (+1) with Lin one behind her at 74 (+2). Sophomore Brenna Nelsen, who is also a Crimson sports editor, shot her lowest score of the weekend at 81 (+9). The sophomore was coming off a foot injury that forced her to withdraw from the team’s competition at the Brown Invitational two weeks ago.

After the loss to Yale at the Brown Invitational, Harvard needed a win at the Ivy League Championships to earn a bid to the NCAA Regional Championships. With that goal in mind, the team tried to refocus in practice and ignore the pressure.

“Enjoying the atmosphere and the ability to be at the Ivy Championships is a huge part of ignoring the pressure and was something our coaches talked about coming in,” Lin said. “We couldn’t let the pressure affect our play because we only get four of these and it is a special tournament and a cool experience.”

Though it was Lin’s clutch final putt that officially gave Harvard an automatic berth to the regional championships, an event that it finished 16th at last season, the Crimson’s narrow margin of victory—a single stroke—demonstrated the importance of every shot by all five members of the squad.

“It is a really tough golf course and our coaches just told us to play our own game,” Lin said. “I think we were able to come out and do that each day, and I am just really excited for the entire team that we are able to move on to regionals.”