Golf Rookies Garner National Attention

Some valedictorians spend their free time working on their math or Spanish. Harvard freshmen Bonnie Hu and Seiji Liu spend it working on their golf swings, and they’re now at the top of more than just their high school classes. Both were named as Freshmen to Watch by Golfweek Magazine this week, impressive given the men's and women's lists each named only 20 golfers. Only six other schools in the country had freshmen named to both lists.

Hu's arrival will help the already strong women's squad remain an Ivy frontrunner despite the loss of last year's captain, Claire Sheldon '10. Sheldon was a three-time All-Ivy selection and took third overall in the 2009 Ivy League Championships, leading Harvard to its second straight Ancient Eight crown. While Sheldon wasn't able to finish her stellar Crimson career with a three-peat, she helped take Harvard from a team that had never won an Ivy title to a team unfamiliar with losing it.

Sheldon left the team in good hands. Returning to the team are captain Mia Kabasakalis, junior Christine Cho—the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2010 and Rookie of the Year in 2009—and sophomore Katie Sylvan, last spring's Ivy League Rookie of the Year. With Hu joining them on the links, the team seems to have more than enough fuel to make another run for the title in 2011.

Liu, meanwhile, will shoulder much more responsibility in his first season on the men's team, which returns only two of its top finishers. Luckily for the Crimson, those two are juniors Tony Grillo and Mark Pollak. Harvard's top two golfers last year, the pair both placed in the top 10 at the 2010 Ivy Championships.

Due to the departure of top golfers on both teams, the Crimson will have a whole new look on the golf course this year. But when that new look includes two of the best freshmen in the country, change doesn't seem so scary.