Back in the Swing

Despite spending the summer in Cuba, Harvard junior Andrew Klein still managed to fit in an occasional round of golf thanks to the convenience of his friendly neighborhood government-run pro shop.

Klein is just one product of the youth movement that the men’s and women’s golf teams have cultivated in the past couple seasons. Though the graduation of Sara Leventhal, Maureen Shannon and Andrew Malcolm has left gaps, the underclassmen’s experience should help to remedy the loss.

“I think the holes have already been filled,” Chiampa said. “Our top golfers were all young last year.”

On the men’s side, co-captains Taylor Harmeling and Joe Jackson pilot essentially the same team that placed fourth out of eight squads at the Ivy tournament. The opposition also remains the same, with Penn, Princeton and Yale posing the stiffest challenges, beginning with the Yale Invitational this weekend.

Last year, Klein stepped up with sophomores Matt Amis and Chris Wu as Harvard’s top scorers. Those three, along with junior Steve Mungovan and freshman D.J. Heinz, bring tournament experience that will hopefully lead to more consistency for the team.

“It’s a matter of getting a core group of people who can play day in and day out and getting other people when they’re hot,” Klein said. “Consistency is what we strive for.”

Crimson golfers traditionally struggle with the fickle weather of the northeast, which produced snow for the ECACs last October.

“The conditions in New England are really tough this time of year because it’s really windy and cold, so we’re just going to have to focus better as a team,” Amis said.

The women’s team is looking for its third consecutive state title, with junior captain Merry Chiampa at the reins. At the Massachusetts Intercollegiate Championship last year, Chiampa broke a tie for the individual title in a dramatic playoff.

This year, she looks to defend the Bay State crown and rise in the Ivy standings from last year’s fifth place finish out of six teams.

The Crimson faces its first hurdle at Dartmouth this weekend.

“Our big competition is always Dartmouth,” Chiampa said. “Yale and Princeton are our future goals—their programs are much older.”

As a young program, lack of experience has been a snag in Harvard’s course. However, this year’s team benefits from an entire roster full of players with junior golf backgrounds.

All-Ivy sophomore Jeen-Joo Kang is among the veterans who promise success for this year. Though Kang’s summer spent working at the World Cup in Korea did not allow for golf practice, the team’s trip to Ireland sponsored by the Friends of Harvard Golf provided ample opportunity for everyone to get back in the swing of things.

Freshmen Jen Cronan and Caitlin Hicks should also be able to contribute right away, along with Kerry Baker and Katherine Chufesky, a visiting student from Amherst.

Sophomore Kat Sweet has also joined in the mix after a successful rookie year on the Harvard women’s hockey team.

“We’ve got a lot of holes under our belts going into our first tournament,” Chiampa said. “You gain a certain amount of confidence when you play that much golf.”

—Staff writer Jessica T. Lee may be reached at lee45@fas.harvard.edu.