W. Golf Struggles at Princeton Invitational

For the Harvard women’s golf team so far this season, it has been one step forward and two steps back.

After tying the program’s best tournament total ever in the Dartmouth Invitational two weeks ago, the Crimson struggled its way through the Princeton Invitational this past weekend in Princeton, N.J.

Harvard shot a 339-340-679—35 strokes above its record-tying total from last tournament—and finished in a tie for 12th in the field of 16, 57 strokes behind eventual champion Princeton.

“We just got distracted and lost focus,” captain Merry Chiampa said.

The team battled adverse conditions throughout the weekend, especially on Saturday when the players were forced off the course while rain bucketed down.

“The course didn’t drain well at all,” Chiampa said. “There was a constant mist and it was really soggy.”

Although the Crimson had little reason to be comforted after the tournament, it could likely take solace in the fact that it was not the only team to be trounced by the Tigers. Princeton finished 19 strokes ahead of Yale, its closest competitor.

Another bright spot was the continued consistent play of Chiampa, who shot 83-80-163 to finish in a tie for 21st place in the field of 79, Harvard’s best individual showing of the day. Chiampa is the only senior on the team.

Freshman Erin Wilson—playing in her first tournament—made a compelling case for the future strength of the program as she replaced junior Carrie Baizer—left off the tournament roster this week after struggling in practice—and shot a respectable 86-85-171 to finish in a tie for 51st place.

“Your first college golf experience is always nerve-wracking,” Chiampa said. “She did very well considering the conditions. It showed a lot of potential for the team in the future.”

Sophomore Jennifer Cronan echoed the praise of her captain.

“The first time out, there are some jitters,” she said. “We’re very proud of [Erin].”

Junior J.J. Kang (82-84-166), Cronan (88-91-179) and sophomore Caitlin Hicks (93-96-189) rounded out the scoring for Harvard.

The Crimson is back in action this weekend as it travels to Yale. On top of wanting to improve its play after struggling at Princeton, the team has some added incentive to perform well.

“First, we want to improve our scores,” Cronan said. “But we’re also fired up to go and win back the Harvard-Dartmouth Challenge Cup.”

Although the Crimson was in possession of the Cup—a trophy that is held by whichever team finished better in the most recent tournament—over the summer, the Big Green was able to recover it at the Dartmouth Invitational.