W. Golf Beats Brown, Dartmouth

The Harvard women’s golf team resumed competition for the spring season this weekend, competing against Ivy League competitors Brown and Dartmouth. Due to problems with the Bears’ course, the competition was relocated from Providence, R.I., to Cape Cod.

Prior to the commencement of spring competition, the Crimson finished all four of its fall matches with top-eight finishes.

In this weekend’s spring season opener, Harvard claimed a record-breaking victory over Brown and the Big Green. The team broke the school record for a two-day meet point total—316 points on the first day followed by 318 points on the second day—and also saw freshman Katie Loncke finish first in individual competition.

Despite not conducting much winter training, the Crimson proved it was able to start up from where it left off.

Harvard coach Kevin Rhoads noted his satisfaction with the progress the team has made thus far into the season.

“I was very pleased with what we did in this tournament,” Rhoads said. “This weekend, if it is an indication of our progress, is actually a bit ahead of what I thought we’d be in this season.”

Loncke shot a 77 on the first day of competition followed by a 74 on the second day giving her a 151-point total.

“I was very proud of the way we performed this weekend and in the fall in general,” Loncke said. “We are an up-and-coming team, and a team that has a lot of determination.”

Other standout performances came from junior Jennifer Cronan, who shot a 79 and a 78 for a two-day total of 157. Also noteworthy was senior Jeen-Joo Kang who shot an 83 and a 78, respectively, ending with a 161-point total. Rounding out the Crimson’s contingent was captain Carrie Baizer with 83-88—171 as well as freshman Debbie Amanti who shot 77-92—169.

Rhoads noted that he saw many positive aspects of the players’ games in this weekend’s competition.

“I thought that our ball striking was quite good,” Rhoads said. “I was pretty pleased with the way that they were swinging and hitting. Our mental game and our short game were strong for this stage in the season, but that’s definitely an area that we will get better at in the next couple of tournaments.”

Now that the season is under way, Rhoads believes that an important aspect of the team’s improvement, especially in its short game, will be the simple matter of more exposure to competition itself.

“Early in the season it’s hard to expect to be really sharp,” he said. “We need a little more practice time and more competition.”

While Brown and Dartmouth are not two of the strongest teams in the Ivy League, unlike the dominating teams of Yale and Princeton, Rhoads notes that Harvard’s margin of victory—20 points ahead of the Bears and 30 points ahead of the Big Green—was higher than he anticipated.

“It is encouraging because it shows signs of progress,” he said. “We are going in the direction that we want to.”

Loncke noted another important strength of the Crimson’s golf team.

“We are likely to improve our scores from the first day to the second day, whereas other teams might fall on the second day,” Loncke said. “It is a testament to the perseverance of the individuals on the team.”

After returning from spring break in Palm Springs, the team is making a huge effort to stay on top of its training in order to be prepared for next weekend’s Ivy League championships.