Men's golf finishes sixth at Ivy League Championships

Men’s golf headed to Metedeconk National Golf Club in Jackson, N.J. this weekend to face off against its fellow Ivy League rivals in the Ivy League Golf Championships.

The championships started Friday morning in sunny but windy conditions with sophomore Michael Davis leading the way for the Tigers in the first round. Davis shot a beautiful 74, 2-over-par, displaying great technical ability and consistency in the opening round. Davis ended the 18 holes at sixth on the individual ladder, just two shots shy of Harvard’s Greg Royston and Dartmouth’s Ian Kelsey who each turned in an even score of 72. The highlights of the first round for the Tigers included brilliant birdies from Davis on the par-3 seventh hole and sophomore Marc Hedrick on the par-3 11th hole. Princeton finished the day 21-over-par, 17 shots behind leaders Harvard, who shot an unbelievable team 4-over-par.

Sophomore Eric Mitchell stole the show on the second day, shooting the equal best single round score of the Championships. Keeping even for the first 13 holes, Mitchell pulled out a stunning eagle on the par-5 14th hole, and then birdied on the very next hole to reach 3-under-par. He closed the day with a bogey, finishing at an incredible score of 70, 2-under-par, after the 18 holes. Mitchell shot up 17 spots on the individual leaderboard to third with a two-day score of 148, 4-over-par, just three strokes behind Cornell’s Luke Graboyes who sat on a score of 145, 1-over-par. After the second round of play, the Tigers remained in fifth place with a cumulative team score of 309-311, 44-over-par, for a grand total of 620 over 36 holes, 22 shots shy of leader Harvard, which had a score of 292-306, 22-over-par, with a grand total of 598.

Mitchell continued his brilliant form into the final day, leading the Tigers with an individual score of 77 , 5-over-par, to cap off a great weekend for the sophomore. Mitchell finished sixth on the individual ladder, just four shots behind winner Graboyes from Cornell. In the final round, both Davis and Hedrick put in impressive performances with a 76, 4-over-par, and 75, 3-over-par, respectively. The pair produced the highlights of the day, with birdies from Davis on the par-3 11th hole, and Hedrick on the par-3 15th hole. Meanwhile, junior Quinlan Prchal produced a classy 5-over-par and junior Alex Dombrowski shot an 84, 12-over-par. The Tigers improved markedly over the course of the three days, finishing strong with their best team performance of the championships, a score of 305. Princeton finished sixth overall in the Ivy League Championships, shooting a team 61-over-par after 54 holes, just 18 strokes behind winners Harvard. Competition was fierce this year, with just six shots separating sixth-place Princeton from third-place Yale. This weekend rounds off the season for the Tigers, who will now be looking forward to next season.