William Ma Excels at the Hamptons Intercollegiate

In the 1979 film Monty Python’s Life of Brian, Eric Idle encourages us to “always look on the bright side of life.”

Longtime followers of Harvard golf (+38, 10th) may wish that this tale tells the story of the Crimson’s all-time best average leader and former captain Brian Ma ’24, but rather, it tells a satirical story of a frequently misidentified and far worse golfer named Brian.

At least for this article, though, speaking of B. Ma and looking on the bright side of the 2026 Hamptons Intercollegiate at the Maidstone Club in East Hampton, N.Y., his successor in both name and talent, junior captain William Ma (-5, 2nd), excelled amongst a top-tier individual competition from 12 teams.

With the exception of Utah’s (+20, 5th) senior Gabriel Palacios’s (-12, 1st) incredible outing, Ma bested strong challenges from tournament champion and reigning national quarterfinalist Florida’s (-6, 1st) senior Jack Turner (-4, 3rd) and sophomore Trever Gutschewski (-3, T4) and Rutgers’ (+9, 13) junior Bennett Espenshade (-3, T4) to round out the top four.

In what became Harvard’s worst outing of the fall, Ivy foe Princeton (+23, 7th) out-shot the Crimson by 15 strokes.

Yale (+69, 12th), meanwhile, continued its rough week, finishing 31 strokes behind Harvard.

Trailing Florida and Rutgers were some unfamiliar foes for the Crimson, as the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (+13, 3rd) and the Florida State Seminoles (+16, 4th) rounded out the top five ahead of Utah.

On the topic of demons, however, it appears the bogey demon had a delayed flight to Boston with a layover in Washington, D.C., visiting Georgetown (+42, 11th, +10 in Round One) before making it to Harvard.

The Crimson seemed to be in a prime position to challenge the top of this competitive field early on, shooting just one over par in Round One to tie for fourth.

Thanks to the best individual round score on the first 18 and second-best round score of the whole tournament, Ma’s five-under first round led freshman Alex Zhang (+12, T48, E in Round One) and sophomore Reese Jensen (+15, 49th, +2 in Round One) on the road to the team being just one shot over par.

A. Zhang had high expectations coming into the Hamptons after winning the weather-shortened MacDonald Cup, and through two rounds it seemed as though he was living up to the pressure.

Yet, as seemed to be the theme of the weekend, the story you might’ve expected wasn’t always what happened; just ask Colgate after the last two minutes of the fourth quarter during Harvard’s football home opener.

Alas, back in the Hamptons, sophomore Morgan Riley (+26, 66th) and junior Barry Zhang (+19, T56) clawed through the first 18, hitting four and seven over par, respectively.

Ma secured the team’s only eagle of the tournament on the 493-yard, par-five hole 15 while hitting four more birdies in a masterclass that was his first round.

A. Zhang recovered from two bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine by securing four birdies between holes 13 through 17 to even out his score and continue his impressive start to the year.

The 13th hole served Harvard particularly well as Jensen and Riley joined the former two in hitting birdies on the 536-yard par five.

Despite a solid round behind it, the Crimson struggled in the second, shooting 17 over par.

Ma and A. Zhang recorded decent rounds by each hitting a shot over par, while A. Zhang once again secured a slew of birdies on holes 13 through 17, hitting three this round.

Holes nine and 10 were the trickiest for Harvard collectively, as both A. Zhang and Riley hit double bogeys on 10, along with bogeys from Ma and B. Zhang on both nine and 10.

Riley and B. Zhang both managed eight over par on a course well known for its windy conditions.

Wind gusts during the tournament reached up to 40 miles per hour, adding another layer of challenge for the already competitive field of teams.

Hitting 13 birdies on the weekend, the most senior member of the squad alongside B. Zhang, Ma found his groove despite the adverse conditions.

Although finishing 10th is certainly a change in pace compared to the top-three finishes throughout Harvard’s first three tournaments, including wins at Yale and Boston College, there certainly are ways to look on the bright side of the greens.

Round Three, despite being a numerical collapse for Harvard, presented challenges head coach Kevin Rhoads can work on with his young squad as the team enters the indoor practice season.

Ma put together an eventful final round by hitting six birdies over five bogeys to finish one under par in Round Three to lock up the number two spot, helped by Barnes Blake (-1, 6th) of Georgetown shooting six over par despite entering the round seven under par.

In what will undoubtedly serve as a valuable learning experience for A. Zhang, the rookie put up an eleven-over-par performance in Round Three, including three scores of double bogey or worse, which pushed him back 28 spots in the rankings.

B. Zhang, however, had his best round of the tournament, hitting four over par with only one major blemish coming from a triple bogey on the par-five hole 16.

Jensen only slightly improved from his Round Two regression by hitting six over par in Round Three, largely due to two double bogeys on the front nine.

Riley, shooting 14 over par, although neglected in official scoring as the team’s worst individual round score, will certainly not be neglected in ongoing conversations about how the team handles the predictably unstable northeastern weather and finds consistency despite it.

While the Crimson would love to shake off its bogey-inducing demons, on the bright side, runner-up Ma has an incredibly dedicated team to lead into the intensive fall indoor training sessions ahead.

Before fully moving inside, however, Yale and Harvard will next face off on Oct. 17th in a scrimmage in Westerly, R.I., as both of these teams hope to vie for the Ivy League Championship in the spring.

—Staff writer Leo P. Petropoulos can be reached at [email protected].