Harvard's Lederhausen Turning Heads on the Links

Earlier this year The Crimson profiled two freshmen on Harvard golf, Bonnie Hu of the women’s team and Seiji Liu of the men’s. While Hu and Liu are off to fast starts, another freshman—one we overlooked—has been dominating on the links and playing his way to the top of the leader board.

After losing his match in the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet (8 and 7) the first week of the season, men’s golfer Theo Lederhausen has been playing better than anyone on the team. At the McLaughlin, Lederhausen tied with junior Mark Pollak for a team-best +3 on the tournament, including a round of -1. At the MacDonald Cup last weekend, the freshman showed further improvement. Lederhausen shot even par on the event, including a round of -1 on the opening day. His finish tied for fifth place in the tournament.

“He definitely picked it up after our first match when we were a little disappointed in his performance,” junior captain Tony Grillo said. “We’re excited to see that he’s playing well.”

Last Sunday, in the final round of the MacDonald, Lederhausen teed off on the par-three fifth hole due to a shotgun start. From 145 yards away, the freshman knocked in a hole-in-one. He went on to shoot a 71 and lead the team in scoring for the second straight week.

“I think the most important part [of his success] is [he’s] feeling comfortable now—with the team, with the tournament set up, and with the differences of being on a college team,” Grillo said.