Men's Golf Places Sixth at Yale Spring Invitational

After a harsh winter, greens were finally green in New England for the Harvard men’s golf team as it traveled to New Haven, Conn., this weekend. The Crimson competed in the annual Yale Spring Invitational, placing sixth out of 14 schools with a combined score of 26-over 867.

The invite featured three rounds of play over the two days, with 36 holes being played on Saturday and an additional 18 holes taking place Sunday morning. Wake Forest finished play as the tournament champion, posting a cumulative team performance of 15 strokes under par. The Demon Deacons were the only team able to finish under par for the tournament.

On the individual side, Crimson sophomore Kendrick Vinar came away tied for 12th at four strokes over par. Not far behind was freshman Greg Royston at five over par, which was good enough for a tie for 14th place. Royston again shot a 70 in round three.

“I hit the ball the best I’ve hit it so far this year,” Royston said. “I’ve been working hard the entire season and trying to make my game as strong as possible knowing that we have our most important tournaments coming up.”

In addition to Royston and Vinar, the five-man Harvard scoring team was also comprised of sophomore Daniel De La Garza, junior Rohan Ramnath, and captain Akash Mirchandani. De La Garza finished tied for 21st, shooting seven over par. Ramnath’s plus-11 placed him in a tie for 38th, while Mirchandani shot a plus-18 to earn him a share of 58th place.

Coming in second place was Clemson, a whopping 28 shots behind the Demon Deacons. Among Ancient Eight contingents, Yale led the pack. The Bulldogs came in fifth place overall at plus-26, just one shot ahead of Harvard. Also participating representing the Ivy League was Brown, which finished in 13th with a plus-61.

The Yale Golf Course sports a par of 70 and total yardage of 6,775. In 1988, Golf Magazine included the course on its list of the 100 most difficult courses to play in the world.

The top four players at the event all hailed from Wake Forest, paced by junior David Womble. Womble’s six-under 204 put him two strokes ahead of freshman teammate Paul McBride. Bulldogs freshman Jonathan Lai was the only Ivy Leaguer to finish play under par. His score of 209 put him at one-under for the tournament.

“This tournament featured the strongest field of teams we’ve been up against all year,” said Royston. “We played against a lot of upper-echelon players. It was a great opportunity to show us where our game is at in this point of the season.”

Weather conditions at Yale were much better than what the Crimson have seen at their other spring invites, with sunshine and moderate temperatures dominating. But course conditions posed a challenge for play, especially with regards to putting.

“The greens at Yale are quite tough,” Harvard coach Kevin Rhoads said. “They’re big and extremely undulating and there a lot of micro breaks in different parts of the green.”

Other schools fielding squads at the Spring Invitational were Virginia, Duke, Virginia Tech, Michigan St., UConn, Hartford, Towson, and Boston College. Yale, the host, was the only competing school that fielded two teams.

This invite was the last tune-up for the Crimson before it heads to Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa., next weekend for the Ivy Championships. A trip to NCAA regionals will be on the line.

“I’m very confident in our team going forward,” Rhoads said. “This is a talented, motivated, hardworking group that has done everything that it can to be ready. Obviously anything can happen at a tournament, but I think our play is at the top of the league.”