Guo, Cheng Top Leaderboard for Women's Golf at Rehoboth Beach

At the Lady Blue Hen Invitational in Rehoboth Beach, Del., Harvard’s one-two punch of sophomore Lita Guo and junior Anne Cheng led the Crimson to a tournament victory at plus-39. Facing off against 12 other teams and 70 other golfers, members of the duo finished first and second overall, respectively.

The tournament, hosted by the University of Delaware, was the fourth and final event for Harvard this fall. Entering the invite’s final day, the Crimson held a slim lead over Delaware. The teams were separated by four strokes, but the host of the Blue Hen Invitational was unable to mount a comeback in round three. Instead, Harvard tallied a team score of 296, the best mark of any single round for any team during the tournament.

At the conclusion of three rounds of play, the Crimson had a cumulative score of 903. Led by Guo, who finished at plus-3, Harvard was able to walk away with a comfortable margin of victory over second-place Delaware, who finished at 915 strokes.

“We’re really excited to have won the last tournament of the season,” Cheng said. “We put in our best effort, and we were glad to see that it paid off.”

Guo and Cheng faced stiff competition from Delaware fifth-year senior Andi Slane and senior Nathalie Filler, who finished third and fifth overall, respectively. However, despite the threat from Delaware’s top two golfers, Guo and Cheng helped the Crimson maintain its lead and secure the victory.

Paired with Penn junior Isabella Rahm and Rollins College junior Paige Lyle in round three, Cheng built a comfortable lead after the conclusion of the second round but ended up in second place after a late surge by Guo. Following a 79 in the invite’s opening round, the Auckland, New Zealand native rebounded with a 71 and a 69 in her next two rounds.

“I felt pretty good in general,” Guo said. “I just kept a very positive mindset because it was our last tournament of the season…. I really love being with the team, so that really kept me calm and focused on each shot.”

Along with Cheng and Guo, captain Christine Lin, junior Nina Fairbairn, and freshman Michelle Xie helped guide Harvard to its second win out of four tournaments this fall. Xie tied for 16th place, Lin tied for 25th, and Fairbairn tied for 43rd.

“It’s a five-person team, so everybody’s score definitely counts,” Guo said. “It’s not just me and Anne—I think everyone contributed a lot.”

The Crimson struggled with par threes at the Blue Hen, as the team compiled a plus-22 total score and a 3.37 scoring average on those holes. However, the team’s performance on the rest of the course set it apart from the competition. Harvard led all teams in pars recorded with 158. The Crimson also capitalized upon 31 total birdies to gain and maintain its lead in the Blue Hen.

Harvard tallied an average of 4.29 strokes on par fours and 5.10 on par fives. Guo posted a scoring average of 4.03 on par fours, the best of any golfer in the tournament. Cheng played the longer holes particularly well over the weekend, finishing two-under-par on par fives.

The par 72 course played at 6180 yards over the weekend, and not one golfer in the field finished the weekend under par.

“The greens were really fast, the rough was thick, the fairways were really tight, there were a ton of water hazards,” Cheng said. “It’s a really challenging course, but it was very beautiful because it was right next to the beach.”

After winning one tournament during the entire 2014-2015 season, the Crimson has already doubled that mark in the fall of 2015 alone.