Klein Wins Tournament In Final Appearance For M. Golf

Traditionally golf is a sport won and lost by individuals, and the Harvard men’s golf team certainly had its share of impressive individual performances this year.

But in the world of collegiate golf, where wins and losses depend on the aggregate score of the entire team, the Crimson struggled in the 2003-2004 season to find consistency up and down its roster.

There were plenty of signs throughout the year that things might be turning around for Harvard. A strong third-place showing at the NEIGA championships near the end of the fall season boded well for what would come in spring. And a win over Brown and Dartmouth the week before the Ivy championships gave the squad hope that it could make some noise against the league’s best.

But in the end, the momentum failed to carry from week to week and the Crimson stumbled out of the box in the spring and finished fifth at the Ivy championships.

“It’s disappointing,” junior Chris Wu said after the championships. “I know a lot of guys on the team can play much better than we showed.”

Wu, for his part, had nothing to be disappointed about. The junior had a breakout year and put together some stellar performances.

Although Harvard didn’t fare well at the Ivy championships, the outcome would have been much more sobering without Wu, who turned in one of his best showings of the season and finished with the fifth-best individual score.

“You’re always trying to play your best,” said Wu, who also earned a selection to the All-Ivy team. “No matter what the stakes are, you want to go out and do your best.”

While Wu provided solid play throughout, the highlight of the year went to captain Andrew Klein, who won the last tournament of his collegiate career.

At the Patriot League Challenge, Klein posted a two day total of 147—the lowest score for any golfer in the field. The victory was Klein’s first of the year—third of his career—and made for a special sendoff for the senior.

“It was nice [to win one my senior year],” Klein said. “My adrenaline was really rushing, and I realized that this was going to be the last time ever.”

But even with Klein’s victory, the Crimson couldn’t place higher than third at the Patriot League Challenge and repeated a trend that had become all to familiar throughout the year—impressive individual play marred at times by inconsistency from the entire team.

Sophomore D. J. Hynes proved to be a solid No. 3 player for Harvard and showed improvement throughout the season. But Hynes struggled at times to put up the low scores that would have helped the Crimson challenge for tournament titles.

“We’ve been up and down,” said Hynes after the squad’s final tournament, the Patriot League Challenge. “I’ve been up and down as well...but I think I’ve shown how I’m capable of playing, and now I need to be consistent.”

Behind Hynes, Harvard proved to be too thin to challenge Ivy powerhouses Princeton, Penn and Yale.

Junior Matt Amis and senior Steven Mungovan rounded out the top five for the Crimson by the end of the year. Mungovan put together an impressive six over par opening round at the Ivy Championships. But just like the rest of the roster below Klein and Wu, he and Amis couldn’t consistently score low enough to make Harvard a true threat.

Amis along with freshmen Tom Hegge and Mike Lynch, will need to step up next season if the Crimson hopes to contend for a league crown.

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.