After Team Meeting, W. Golf Improves Play at Yale Invite

Inspired by a team meeting on Saturday night, the Harvard women’s golf team improved its scores on the second and final day of the Yale Invitational, finishing eighth in a field of 13, shooting 335-331—666.

Although it finished 54 shots behind the champion Princeton Tigers, the Crimson put forth a fine effort on the tough layout at Yale University Golf Course.

In a tight battle between Ivy League rivals, Harvard just lost out to Dartmouth (664) and Penn (663), but consistent play left the team in good spirits.

Junior Jeen-Joo Kang led the Crimson charge by finishing in a tie for 20th in a field of 67, amassing a two-day total of 162 by following up her Saturday 82 with a strong final round of 80.

After finishing the first round of play on Saturday, the Harvard team met to talk about mental strategies for the coming round and established a group goal to finish the weekend strong. The Crimson did exactly that, grinding through its final round and improving its team total from Saturday by four shots.

“One of our team goals was to play better on the second day than the first day and that was something we did, which was nice,” said junior Carrie Baizer, who posted consistent rounds of 84 and 83 for a total of 167.

“The team meeting to talk about our mental strategy really helped people play a lot better,” added sophomore Jennifer Cronan, who carded scores of 88 and 85 for a combined 173.

While Sunday’s weather in New Haven was ideal and accommodating, the golf course was not nearly as cooperative.

“The course in general was less forgiving and there [weren’t] a lot of automatic par holes,” Cronan said. “At Yale you can make one bad shot and get a triple [bogey].”

Faced with bumpy greens and harsh fairways, the Crimson golfers had to test their mental dexterity in order to traverse the difficult Yale links.

“Yale is a really tough course, and it really isn’t in great condition,” Baizer said. “There are a few holes that definitely played long. On number 10 you pretty much needed two perfect shots to hit the green.”

Captain Merry Chiampa continued her stellar play by posting 81-83-164 and finishing in a tie for 25th place.

Freshman Jacqueline Rooney, competing in her first collegiate tournament, rounded out Harvard’s scoring with a 93-89-182.

The Crimson returns to action Oct. 17 and 18, when it travels to Rutgers.

Harvard will then wrap up its fall season the following weekend when it hosts the Harvard Invitational on the challenging New Seabury course on Cape Cod.