Crimson Starts First At Ivies, Ends Fifth

With top-three finishes in each tournament this spring, the Harvard men’s golf team was carrying high hopes into the Ivy League Championship this weekend. The Crimson got out to a good start on Friday, building a five-stroke lead after the first round, but it faded on Saturday and yesterday and finished in fifth place.

“We needed to play well this weekend if we wanted to win it, and in general we just played average,” sophomore Mark Pollak said.

Harvard managed to shoot a 903 over the course of 54 holes, but it was bested by Columbia, Yale, Penn, and Dartmouth—with scores of 890, 893, 898, and 902, respectively. Cornell, which posted a 915, Princeton, which carded a 921, and Brown, which shot a 938, rounded out the bottom three.

The Ivy League Championship was the Lions’ third-consecutive title.

“Some guys who played well throughout the season just didn’t have their best week,” sophomore Tony Grillo said. “It’s unfortunate, especially because we knew that we could win, seeing as the team that did win, [Columbia], we crushed a couple weeks ago [at the Princeton Invitational].”

The tournament took place in Springfield, N.J., at the prestigious Baltusrol Golf Club. Baltusrol, a par-70 course, has played host to a number of tournaments, including seven U.S. Opens and the 2005 PGA Championship.

“Baltusrol is one of the best courses in the country,” Pollak said. “It’s really long...The rough was pretty thick, the greens were rolling quick, and they gave us tough pin locations.”

“It’s obviously a very challenging course, and that was reflected in the scores,” he added.

With the toughest conditions on the first day of the tournament, Harvard played its best golf of the weekend. Grillo and senior Greg Shuman led the Crimson by shooting a 72 and 74, respectively, and Harvard’s collective effort earned the squad an early lead with a 297.

“Tony and Greg led us off well,” Pollak said. “I think we just managed our game a little bit better than everyone else [on the first day].”

Friday was the beginning of a successful weekend for Grillo. The sophomore followed up his opening round with a 71 on Saturday and a 75 yesterday to shoot a 218—good for sixth place overall in the tournament.

“The funny thing about golf is that when your short game is on—when you’re putting and chipping well—[is] usually when you find yourself on the leader board,” Grillo said.

Although the conditions eased up on Saturday and yesterday, the rest of golf team could not take advantage and emulate Grillo’s success. Captain Danny Mayer and Shuman each posted a 79, and Pollak, suffering from a food illness, was only two strokes better with a 77 on Saturday. Junior Louis Amira’s 76 gave the Crimson a 303 on the day and dropped Harvard four shots back from the leader.

The Crimson did not fare any better on the final day of the tournament, matching Saturday’s score of 303 to drop to fifth place, a slight improvement over last year’s sixth-place finish. The men’s golf team last claimed the Ivy League title in 1975.

The tournament was the final collegiate match for Shuman and Mayer, both of whom have etched their names into the Harvard record books. Over the course of his career, Shuman has played the most rounds, had the most rounds of par or better, and posted the lowest scoring average among qualifying players—74.65 or 3.89 over par. Mayer has played the third-most rounds, had the second-most rounds of par or better, and posted the fourth lowest scoring average with 76.48 strokes per round or 5.75 shots over par.

“They are the backbone of the team. They’re the reason many of us came as recruits,” Grillo said of the seniors. “We’re a little disappointed—the underclassmen—that we couldn’t help bring them the Ivy League Championship they deserved.”

—Staff writer Timothy J. Walsh can be reached at tjwalsh@fas.harvard.edu.