Get Herald RSSWith an experienced team and high expectations, the men's golf team took on the Ivy League last weekend in a two-day tournament at the par-71 Galloway National Golf Club in Absecon, N.J. But the Bears struggled to make it out of the back of the pack at the Ivy League Men's Golf Championship, finishing last despite Larry Haertel's '08 record-setting first round. The Bears scored a three-round team total of 952 at the tournament, while Columbia captured the title with a score of 900, just nine shots ahead of Yale.
Haertel, who finished second in the tournament for the second year in a row and tied the Ivy League record, earning All-Ivy honors for the third time, was left wanting more.
"Obviously, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't bring home the win for my team," he said. "But I thought it was a pretty good ending to my season." Despite Haertel's positive attitude, his teammates wished they could have given him a better farewell.
"Larry capped off a great Ivy League career this past weekend," said Conor Malloy '09. "I was hoping we could send him off in better fashion as a team."
Malloy said that the course was tough and the Bears had trouble capitalizing on their opportunities and the low scores Haertel provided.
"We definitely weren't happy with the way that we finished," Malloy said. "We hadn't played great golf as a team all season; we thought maybe this tournament we could come together."
The highlight of the tournament for the Bears came early on day one, when Haertel finished his first 18 holes at 67, four strokes under par. With this score, Haertel set a new course record, beating the old record set by PGA tour professional Hale Irwin in June of 2004 by one solid stroke. But Haertel didn't hold this position for long. During the next round of golf, Penn's Michael Blodgett shot another 67, sharing both Haertel's course record and his first place individual standing in the tournament. Both Blodgett and Haertel finished off the day with an even par 142.
Other highlights from day one included Malloy's scores of 73 and 78. His combined score of 151 put him in position to snag a 12th place finish. Chris Hoffman '09 was not too far behind shooting 80 and 83 over the first two rounds for a total score of 163. Rounding out the Bears were John Giannuzzi '10 and Ryan Larson '08, who scored a first-day totals of 172 and 173, respectively. This put Brown in seventh place going into day two.
On Sunday, Haertel continued to play well, shooting a 79 in the tournament's final round. Unfortunately, the round was not good enough, and Blodgett claimed the individual championship title. Malloy shot an 83 in his last round, putting him in 19th place overall. As opposed to the rest of their team, Hoffman, Giannuzzi and Larson all improved during the final round of play. Hoffman shot another 80, while Giannuzzi and Larson each shaved off a couple strokes to score 84.
The Bears will finish their season this Friday at the Northeast Invitational in Newport.
