By the time I post this, Princeton will be finished its opening round in the NCAA Norman Regional as the 13th seed.
The Tigers earned that trip to Oklahoma by claiming the title in the for the 31st time in the Ivy League Championship, which wrapped up April 23rd at The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Conn. That was a truly awful weekend weather-wise in the Philadelphia area, but it looks like the top Ivy League players avoided at least some of the bad weather in Connecticut.
Princeton, behind individual champion Riccardo Fantinelli, a freshman from Italy, rolled to an 18-shot victory over runnerup Columbia.
The Tigers really took control of the championship in the second round when they recorded the only round under par for the weekend over the 7,327-yard, par-72 Stanwich Club layout, a 7-under-par 281. The Stanwich Club seemed to play particularly tough in the opening round as Princeton started slowly with a 21-over 309.
But, behind a sizzling 6-under 66 from Jackson Fretty, a junior from Cos Cob, Conn., the low individual round of the weekend, Princeton got it going in the second round and then put the championship away with a final round of 2-over 290 that gave the Tigers a 16-over 880 total.
Fantinelli matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 2-under 70 in the second round before closing with a solid 4-under 68 for a 5-under 211 total that gave him the individual title by four shots.
Columbia closed with a solid 7-over 295 to earn runnerup honors with a 34-over 898 total.
Dartmouth had been Princeton’s closest pursuer going into the final round as the Big Green added a 10-over 298 in the second round to its opening-round 300. Dartmouth closed with a 301 to finish in third place, a shot behind Columbia with a 35-over 899 total.
Defending champion Yale was another three shots behind Dartmouth in fourth place with a 38-over 902 total. The Bulldogs struggled to a 310 in the opening round before bouncing back with a 6-over 294 in the second round and closing with a 10-over 298.
It was another six shots back to Penn in fifth place as the Quakers, too, struggled in the opening round with a 312 before adding back-to-back 10-over 298s in the final two rounds for a 44-over 908 total.
Harvard, behind individual runnerup Brian Ma, a junior from Milpitas, Calif., finished two shots behind Penn in sixth place with a 46-over 910 total as the Crimson sandwiched a 306 in the second round between a pair of 302s.
Ma, who had a really nice spring with individual victories in the Princeton Invitational and in the Columbia Spring Invitational at Rolling Green Golf Club, opened with a solid 2-under 70 and added a 2-over 74 in the second round before closing with a 1-under 71 for a 1-under 215 total that left him four shots behind Princeton’s Fantinelli.
Ma, the Ivy League’s Player of the Year, will also represent the conference in the NCAA regionals as he was invited to compete as an individual in the Auburn Regional, which teed off Monday at the Auburn University Club.
Cornell finished last in the seven-team field with a 56-over 920 total that left the Big Red 10 shots behind Harvard. After opening with a 310, Cornell added a 306 in the second round before finishing up with a 305.
Fretty and William Huang, a sophomore from Exeter, N.H., also had strong showings for Princeton behind Fantinelli.
Fretty’s 6-under 66 in the second round came after he struggled in the opening round with a 77. He closed with a 1-over 73 to finish in third place in the individual standings with an even-par 216 total, a shot behind Ma. Huang also struggled in the opening round with a 79, but bounced back with a 1-under 71 in the second round and a solid 3-under 69 in the final round to finish in a tie for fourth place with a 3-over 219 total.
Max Ting, a senior from Atherton, Calif., finished in the group tied for 26th place for the Tigers with a 236 total. Ting contributed a 2-over 74 to Princeton’s second-round surge, a round he sandwiched with a pair of 81s.
Rounding out the Princeton lineup was Henry Dubiel, a junior from North Palm Beach, Fla., as he landed in a tie for 29th place with a 237 total. After opening with an 81, Dubiel carded a 5-over 77 in the second round before closing with a 79.
Joining Princeton’s Huang in the tie for fourth place in the individual standings at 3-over was Dartmouth’s Eli Kimche, a sophomore from Park City, Utah. Kimche was even-par through two rounds after adding a 1-over 73 in the second round to his opening round of 1-under 71. He finished up with a 3-over 75.
Defending individual champion Ben Carpenter, a sophomore at Yale from Darien, Conn., and Columbia’s Pat Healy, a senior from Centerport, N.Y., finished in a tie for sixth place, each landing on 5-over 221.
Carpenter bounced back from an opening round of 4-over 76 with a 1-under 71 in the second round before closing with a 2-over 74. After opening with a 6-over 78, Healy matched par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 1-under 71.
Two of Kimche’s Dartmouth teammates, Mark Turner, a fifth-year player from Gloucester, Mass, and Alex Gu, a junior from Darien, Conn., accounted for the next two spots on the individual leaderboard.
Turner sandwiched an even-par 72 in the second round with a pair of 3-over 75s to finish in eighth place with a 6-over 222 total. Gu sandwiched a 1-over 73 in the second round with a pair of 3-over 75s to finish a shot behind Turner in ninth place with a 7-over 223 total.
Penn’s top two finishers, Mark Haghani, the Quakers’ senior stalwart from Wilson, Wyo., and John Richardson, a sophomore from England, headed a trio of players tied for 10th place as he registered a 9-over 225 total.
After opening with a 7-over 79, Haghani carded back-to-back 1-over 73s in the final two rounds. Richardson added a 3-over 75 in the second round to his opening-round 77 before closing with a 1-over 73.
Rounding out the trio tied for 10th place at 9-over was Yale’s Gabriel Ruiz, a junior from Mexico who bounced back from an opening-round 79 by matching par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 2-over 74.
Penn also got a strong showing from George Roessler, a sophomore from North Palm Beach, Fla. who finished in a tie for 13th place with an 11-over 227 total. Roessler added a 2-over 74 in the second round to his opening-round 76 before closing with a 77.
Jimin Jung, a junior from Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., finished in a tie for 23rd place for the Quakers with a 234 total as he added back-to-back 5-over 77s in the final two rounds to his opening-round 80.
Rounding out the Penn lineup was Ben Scott, a sophomore from Manhattan Beach, Calif. who finished in 25th place with a 235 total as he bounced back from an opening-round 84 with a 4-over 76 before closing with his best round of the weekend, a 3-over 75.
Harvard senior Brian Isztawn, twice the Inter-Ac League’s regular-season points winner during a stellar scholastic career at Penn Charter, finished in a tie for 29th place with a 242 total. Isztwan’s best round was a 2-over 74 in the second round after he had opened with a 78. He closed with an 80.
Isztwan and younger brother Patrick, who is wrapping up his sophomore year at Richmond, helped Huntingdon Valley capture the top prize in the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s BMW Team Matches Saturday. Huntingdon Valley bested LuLu Golf Club, Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Cricket Club in the playoff in the top tier of the Team Matches, as hotly contested a prize as there is on the GAP schedule.
Cornell got a strong showing from senior Noah Schwartz, a teammate of Brian Isztwan’s at Penn Charter from Cherry Hill, N.J. Schwartz added a 4-over 76 in the second round to his opening-round 78 before matching par in the final round with a 72 to finish in a tie for 20th place with a 231 total.
Cornell sophomore Jackson Debusschere, who helped Strath Haven claim Central League and District One Class AAA team crowns as junior with the Panthers in 2019, was in the lineup for the opening round at The Stanwich Club. He recorded an 82 before giving way to an alternate in the final two rounds.
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