Harvard’s Elizabeth Wang moved to the head of a talented
freshman class in the Ivy League and, in the process, led the Crimson to their
sixth conference crown in the last eight years in the Ivy League Championship,
which wrapped up Sunday at The Ridge at Back Brook in Ringoes, N.J.
Harvard ended Princeton’s two-year reign atop the Ivy
League, including last year when it took a playoff to give the Tigers the edge
over the Crimson at Metedeconk National Golf Club in Jackson, N.J.
That was before Elizabeth Wang of San Marino, Calif. arrived
in Cambridge, though. She had reached the round of 16 in last summer’s U.S.
Women’s Amateur at the Golf Club of Tennessee and she didn’t go out without a
fight as former Ohio State standout Jaclyn Lee, who has since moved on to the
LPGA Tour, needed 20 holes to oust Elizabeth Wang.
Harvard entered Sunday’s final round in fourth place, but
only four shots behind Columbia in a tightly-bunched top five. Elizabeth Wang
proceeded to match the best round of the weekend, a sparkling 3-under-par 69
over the 6,042-yard, par-72 Ridge at Back Brook layout that gave her the
individual title by two shots over another freshman, Columbia’s Jennifer Wang
of Solon, Ohio and allowed the Crimson to surge past the three teams ahead of
them and claim the team crown.
Harvard had opened with a 309 Friday and shaved seven
strokes off that with a 302 in Saturday’s second round. The Crimson then fired
the best team round of the weekend, a 2-over 290, in Sunday’s final round for a
37-over 901 total. Harvard earned the Ivy League’s automatic berth in an NCAA
regional. The Crimson will learn their destination when the regional fields are
unveiled on The Golf Channel beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday.
Elizabeth Wang had opened with a 2-over 74 and added a
3-over 75 to trail Jennifer Wang by two shots heading into Sunday’s final
round. Her strong finish enabled Elizabeth Wang to become Harvard’s fifth Ivy
League individual champion with a 2-over 218 total.
Another of those talented Ivy freshmen is Dartmouth’s
Kaitlyn Lees, an Agnes Irwin product and a three-time winner of the
Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship. Lees finished a shot behind Jennifer
Wang in third place at 5-over 221 and led the Big Green to a second-place
finish in the team standings, the best finish in the history of the program.
Dartmouth opened with a 307, added a 302 in Saturday’s
second round and stood in second place, just two shots behind Columbia, heading
into the final round. The Big Green closed with a 10-over 298 to finish six
shots behind Harvard in second with a 907 total. It was easily Dartmouth’s best
54-hole total ever in an Ivy League Championship, bettering last year’s
previous best of 935 by 28 shots.
Columbia had taken that two-shot lead into the final round
after opening with a 298 and adding a 309 in the second round. The Lions fell
back with a final-round 306 for a 49-over 913 total. Defending champion
Princeton was another four shots behind Columbia in fourth at 53-over 917 after
a final-round 302.
Penn had grabbed the lead after opening with a 10-over 298
and still only trailed Columbia by three after the Quakers backed off with a
second-round 313. They closed with a 309 to finish fifth at 55-over 919, two
shots behind Princeton. Only 18 shots separated Harvard in first place and Penn
in fifth place.
Backing up Elizabeth Wang for the Crimson was another
freshman, Chloe Royston of South Africa, who closed with a solid 1-over 73 to
finish alone in seventh place at 11-over 227.
Michelle Xie, the senior captain on a young team from Palo
Alto, Calif. and individual Ivy champion a year ago at Metedeconk National, and
yet another Harvard freshman, Anina Ku of Basking Ridge, N.J., gave the Crimson
four players in the top 10 in the individual standings as they landed among the
group tied for 10th at 229.
Xie’s final round in an Ivy League Championship was a good
one, a 1-under 71 that had a lot to do with Harvard’s team win. Ku, who
contributed a solid 1-over 73 in Saturday’s second round, closed with a 77.
Rounding out the Harvard lineup was Belinda Hu, a sophomore
from San Ramon, Calif. who finished in the group tied for 28th at
239 after a final-round 79.
Columbia’s Jennifer Wang had opened with a 2-under 70 and
added a 77 in Saturday’s second round to lead Lees by one heading into the
final round. A final round of 1-over 73 left Jennifer Wang in second place, two
shots behind Elizabeth Wang at 4-over 220.
Lees, who plays out of Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia
Country Club, was steady all weekend, carding a pair of 2-over 74s Friday and
Saturday and closing with a 1-over 73 to finish third at 5-over 221.
Another star Ivy freshman, Yale’s Ami Gianchandani, a
product The Pingry School, finished a shot behind Lees in fourth at 6-over 222.
Gianchandani struggled early in the weekend, opening with a 75 and adding a 78
before matching Elizabeth Wang’s final-round 69 so surge up the leaderboard.
Two summers ago, Gianchandani stunned Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit
to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship at Boone Valley
Golf Club in Augusta, Mo. Tavatanakit, a sophomore at UCLA, is No. 2 in the
Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Rina Jung, a sophomore from Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., led a
nice showing by Penn as she shared fifth place with Princeton’s Maya Walton, a
junior from Austin, Texas, at 7-over 223. Jung matched par in the final round
with a 72 while Walton closed with a solid 1-over 73.
Penn’s Mary Shin, a freshman from Irvine, Calif., and
Dartmouth’s Maddie Nelson, a junior from Sammamish, Wash., shared eighth place
at 12-over 228, a shot behind Harvard’s Royston. Shin’s best round was her
first, a 1-over 73 Friday. She added respective rounds of 77 and 78 Saturday
and Sunday. After a pair of 77s, Nelson closed with a solid 2-over 74.
Backing up Lees and Nelson for Dartmouth was Moon Cheung, a
sophomore from Charlotte, N.C. who finished in a tie for 13th at
230. Cheung sandwiched a 78 in the second round with a pair of 76s.
Rounding out the Dartmouth lineup were Catharine Roddy, a
senior from Trabuco Canyon, Calif., and Kristen Chen, a freshman from Thousand
Oaks, Calif., both of whom finished tied for 24th at 236. Roddy’s
1-over 73 in the second round helped keep the Big Green in contention before
she closed with an 80. Chen saved her best for last, a counting 3-over 75 in
the final round.
Backing up Jung and Shin for Penn was Christina Park, a
junior from San Diego who finished in a tie for 20th at 233 after
she closed with a 6-over 78. Leila Dizon, a freshman from Los Angeles, finished
alone in 23rd place at 235 after a final-round 81. Dizon’s
opening-round 72 gave her medalist honors for the day for Penn and sparked the
fast start by the Quakers.
Rounding out the Penn lineup was freshman Olivia Traynor,
Lees’ Inter-Ac League rival at Notre Dame. Traynor’s final-round 82 was her
best of the weekend and left her alone in 34th place at 249.
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