Chemist Scores Big at Links

The rolling green hills of a golf course may seem like a long way from the laboratories of Harvard’s chemistry department, but not for second-year department chair Dr. Cynthia Friend.

Friend’s unlikely amateur golf career began on an upbeat note at the 2005 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur Golf Tournament at The Apawamis Club in Rye, New York this week. The tournament, which took place Saturday through Tuesday, featured over 457 competitors, a record-high for the event.

Friend, who was the first—and remains the only—woman to earn tenure in Harvard’s chemistry department, started the tournament during the weekend and played her way into the final 16.

“I went into the competition looking forward to it and feeling confident,” Friend said. “Even though I don’t play and practice that much, I believe I have a strong game.”

And a strong game was just what observers saw as Friend hit the greens.

In the weekend’s first round, Friend shot an 81, which advanced her from the round of 64 to the round of 32. That was where she matched up with Debbie Jamgochian of Greenwich, Conn.

In her showdown with Jamgochian, Friend prevailed 5 and 4—ahead five holes with four holes left, and therefore beating her opponent.

“I felt good about the way I played,” Friend said. “I felt like I played some excellent matches and to win with that kind of margin against those types of players is satisfying.”

That win placed her in Tuesday morning’s competition—again in the round of 32—against Ashley Rose of Vienna, Va.

After a solid victory of 4 and 3 in Tuesday’s competition against Rose, Friend’s breakthrough into the round of 16 was complete. She fell by a tight 2 and 1 margin to Reggie Parker of Hobe South, FL.

“Even in the match that I lost, the good thing was that I persisted and never gave up,” Dr. Friend said. “I made my opponent work for her victory.”

And despite leaving the tournament just shy of the quarterfinals, Friend left plenty satisfied with her performance.

“Overall I was pleased to compete so well in a national championship like that and do as well as I did with all my other work demands.”

Friend added that expertise in golf supplies her with real-life benefits in addition to helping her realize her links dreams.

“One of the things that’s great about sports in general is that it is really very helpful in terms of confidence development,” Friend noted. “But golf in particular is useful even as you move on in your career.”

With such an attitude, it comes as no surprise that Friend looks forward to continuing her golf career.

“I love golf because it gets me outside, motivates me to stay in shape and there is an objective outcome in the end,” she said. “There’s no politics, no ambiguity, just the sports.”

—Staff writer Samantha A. Papadakis can be reached at spapadak@fas.harvard.edu.