Men's and women's golf teams conclude season at Ivy League Championships

The men’s and women’s golf teams finished their spring seasons this past weekend at the Ivy League Championships at the Saucon Valley Golf Club in Bethlehem, Pa. The men’s competition had all eight teams, while the women’s competition only included seven teams, as Cornell did not field a team. Although neither of Princeton's teams could capture the team title, the weekend belong to sophomore Quinn Prchal, who brought home Princeton’s 14thindividual title since 1975 and the second in three years.

Both teams went into the Championships with high hopes after a solid regular season. The men’s team finished fourth last year, but looked to recapture the Ivy League title they won two years ago, whereas the women’s team has finished as the runners-up in back-to-back years, and hope to go one better this time around.

Both teams had very positive opening rounds, with the men’s team placing first in the field of eight, whilst the women’s team was second in the field of seven. The men’s team had a comfortable lead of six shots after shooting a solid +13 in the first round, with Columbia and Penn trailing them. Especially impressive on the first day were freshmen Michael Davis, Marc Hedrick and Prchal who shot one, three and three strokes over par, respectively.

The women’s team was tied with Yale for second place and trailing Columbia by five shots after the first eighteen holes. Junior Alex Wong and sophomore Hana Ku were tied for fifth after the first day, both shooting at six over.

However, over the next two days, neither teams could retain their standing on the table. The men’s team shot a combined 293 on the second day, which was eight strokes better than the first day, but rivals Penn shot 16 strokes better on the second day for a total of 291. However, going down to the last day, the Tigers were still four shots ahead of Penn. On the women’s side, the Tigers did not improve on the second day, but their rivals Harvard and Columbia outshot the Tigers by 16 and seven strokes, respectively.

On the last day, the men’s team shot a respectable 292, which was their best round of the tournament, but a fantastic performance from Penn led to a 287 third round, which helped them nick the title by one stroke. Penn finished +21, and the Tigers finished +22 in one of the most tightly contested Ivy League Championships in recent history.

The women’s side also had their best day on the third round, shooting a +16 on the third day, but were simply outplayed by other foes Harvard, Yale and Columbia, and the Tigers had to accept a fourth place finish. They finished seven strokes behind third place Columbia and 13 behind champions Harvard.

However, there was much more success on the individual side for both teams. Sophomore Quinn Prchal completed a fantastic tournament by winning in dominant fashion. Although Prchal started the first day with a 75, he bounced back in the second and third day of the tournaments, shooting 68 and then 67 to comfortably win the individual title by three shots over Penn’s Austin Powell. His last round score of 67 also tied an Ivy League record, and his three round score of 210 ties the Ivy League mark set by Creighton Page ’05.

The team as a whole performed extremely well, with Hedrick and Davis tied in fifth, shooting seven over par. Freshman Eric Mitchell finished at 17 over par in 26thplace and sophomore Alex Dombrowski finished in 31stwith 19 shots over par. With these finishes, Hedrick and Davis joined Prchal with first-team All-Ivy League honors.

Although the women’s team had no individual winners, Wong finished tied for fourth with a final score of +14 after dropping two spots on the last day with a 78. Freshman Jordan Lippetz used a strong final round to jump seven spots and finish tied for eighth with a score of +15, while Ku finished in 11thwith a score of +16. The Tigers’ two other competitors, freshmen Caroline Araskog and Tenley Shield finished in 26thand 34th, respectively. With their finishes, Wong, Lippetz and Ku all earned All-Ivy League honors.

Although neither team could capture the title this year, the future looks extremely bright for both teams, as all ten golfers on both the men’s and women’s team can return next year in the hopes of bringing the Ivy League Championship back to Princeton.