Harvard Golf Sets Team Record at McLaughlin

The Harvard men’s golf team traveled to Farmingdale, N.Y., last weekend to participate in The McLaughlin at the Bethpage Red Course. The 15-team tournament—the Crimson’s second event of the season—was hosted by St. John’s and featured a mix of Ivy and non-Ivy programs.

Although Harvard set a school record for lowest team score in a three-round tournament with a total of 856 strokes, it ultimately finished tied for seventh place.

“It was nice to see we had some consistent low scores,” junior captain Tony Grillo said. “But as a team, we were definitely disappointed, because we got beaten by a fairly large margin.”

The site of the tournament, the Red Course, is one of five courses in Bethpage State Park. The Black Course played host to the U.S. Open in 2002 and 2009.

“Bethpage Red was a very different layout than what we’re used to,” freshman Seiji Liu said. “It had some long holes and some tricky short ones, but the course itself was changed when [it rained] the night before the event. It changed it from firm and fast conditions to very soggy and wet.”

Last year at The McLaughlin, the Crimson had its best showing of the fall. Harvard finished fifth out of 18 teams, shooting an 858—then a record for the lowest three-round score. Greg Shuman ’10 claimed a share of the individual championship by carding a 208, the lowest tournament score in school history by five strokes.

Seeking to replicate last year’s success, the Crimson opened the tournament on Friday morning.

With overcast skies and tough winds, Harvard shot a 285 in the opening round, putting it six strokes behind Villanova for the lead.

Freshman Theo Lederhausen led the team as he tallied a 69, one under par. Junior Mark Pollak was right behind Lederhausen, shooting an even-par 70, and he was followed by Liu (71), Grillo (75), and junior Connor Wentzell (76).

“It’s really good to see the freshmen are playing well,” Grillo said. “Last week it was Seiji Liu who went out and won most of his matches handily when Theo didn’t have a great week, and this week Theo turned right around and was able to post a low score to keep us in there for the first round.”

“You don’t normally have that kind of backing from freshmen,” he added.

“It just shows that Harvard’s program is moving forward in the right direction,” said Liu of his class’s impact.

In the afternoon, the Crimson carded a 284. This time, Grillo led the way, recovering from his early round and firing a much-improved 68.

“[My swing] just came together a little bit for me in the second round, and I was able to hold on and make some putts to shoot a low score,” he said.

Pollak, Lederhausen, and Liu demonstrated consistency, posting a 71, 72, and 73, respectively.

Harvard came into Saturday’s final round 10 strokes behind tournament leader Princeton. Although the Crimson failed to catch its Ivy rival, Grillo’s round-best 71 and a 72 apiece from Pollak, Lederhausen, and Liu carried the team to its record finish.

“Although we didn’t win the event, our scores for the three days were very strong and consistent,” Liu said.

Overall, Pollak and Lederhauser tied for the team lead with 213 strokes. Grillo finished with 214, Liu with 216, and Wentzell with 229.

The Tigers, whom Harvard beat handily last week, came in second place shooting an 840, two strokes behind West Florida. Villanova, Sacred Heart, and IUPUI rounded out the top five.

“It was disappointing to see [Princeton] so far ahead of us this week,” Grillo said. “We feel like we are a better team than them and feel like we are a good enough team to have won [The McLaughlin]. It just wasn’t our week.”

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