Men’s golf team kicks off spring season with 314-330 loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Last week, the Harvard men’s golf team hit Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.’s Empire Lakes Golf Course, designed by Arnold Palmer, for a Monday showdown with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Senior Chris Wu paced both teams with a solid 76, but the Crimson failed to mount a comeback. The team lost 314-330 in its first dual match of the spring.

“It’s pretty early in the season,” said junior D.J. Hynes, who finished second on the team—and seventh overall—with an 81. “It’s good to get some competition to wear off the rust of the winter.”

Vacationing in California rewarded Harvard with several sunny and breezy days. The team prepared for its match the previous weekend by practicing at L.A. Country Club and The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

Empire Lakes presented its own challenges.

“It was windy,” Hynes said. “It had fast greens. It was a lot shorter than courses we’d been playing.”

The result was a fickle venue that gave and took away.

“It rewarded good shots and punished bad shots,” Hynes said.

Even with Wu’s superior performance—though he struggled, somewhat, on the greens, he compensated by pounding the fairways and greens with his driver—the Crimson failed to display the depth that carries teams to victory at dual meets.

Five CMS players, including Nick Shannahan and Colin Reed, whose scores of 78 tied for second-best, finished in the top six overall.

“We were pretty well-prepared,” Hynes said. “We were just a little rusty.”

Senior Matt Amis, sophomore Tom Hegge, and freshman Andrew Livingston rounded out the team individual scores. Amis and Hegge both fired scores of 86 and Livingston finished with an 87.

The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps athletic program combines athletes from Claremont-McKenna, Harvey Mudd, and Scripps Colleges, all located in Claremont, Cal., and competes as a member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Next up for the Crimson is the Yale Spring Opener in New Haven this weekend.

—ALEX McPHILLIPS