Davis, Fahey, Susanin finish strong at the Ivies

   It was a very strong foursome of players that ruled the Inter-Ac League in the early part of this decade, Malvern Prep’s Michael Davis, Episcopal Academy’s Sean Fahey and The Haverford School pair of Cole Berman and Scott Jaster, battling it out for team and individual honors in the toughest scholastic golf league in Pennsylvania.

   Berman is in the midst of a very successful run at Georgetown, but the rest of the foursome went to the Ivy League and it was not surprising to see Davis, a junior at Princeton, and Fahey, wrapping up an outstanding career at Dartmouth, end up in the top 10 at the Ivy Championship over the weekend.

   Jaster also went to Dartmouth and has been one of the top players for the Big Green, but did not tee it up at The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Conn. Not sure what kept him out of the lineup, but Jaster, like Fahey, has been a stalwart for the Dartmouth program.

   Another golf career wrapped up at Dartmouth this weekend as Jamie Susanin, the leading lady on Radnor’s 2012 PIAA Class AAA championship team, teed it up at the women’s Ivy Championship, which was held at the Orange Tree Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. More on the ladies later.

   Davis, the runnerup to Berman in the 2015 BMW Philadelphia Amateur at Llanerch Country Club, ended up tied for sixth for the Tigers as he posted rounds of 74, 73 and 73 over a 7,133-yard, par-72 Stanwich Club layout that played pretty tough for a 4-over 220 total.

   The start of Fahey’s career at Dartmouth was delayed when he qualified for the 2013 U.S. Amateur at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. Jaster, too, earned a trip to Brookline. Not sure Dartmouth knew it was getting players of that caliber, but the program was glad to excuse Fahey and Jaster from early practices so they could compete in a national championship.

   Fahey, playing his 70^th and final career round at Dartmouth, matched par with a 72 in Sunday’s final round to finish tied for eighth at Stanwich with a 6-over 222 total.

   Harvard was the repeat winner of the Ivy crown as the Crimson ran away from the field with a 1-over 289 in the final round for a 10-over 874 total. The Crimson will represent the Ivy League in next month's NCAA regionals. Cornell, led by individual champion Mike Graboyes, a junior from Wachtung, N.J., matched the program’s best finish ever by taking second at 25-over 889, 15 shots behind Harvard.

   Davis’ Tigers came on strong in the final round, posting a 3-under 285, to finish third at 891. It was another six shots back to Yale in fourth at 897, Penn placed fifth at 901 and Fahey’s Big Green took sixth at 903.

   Graboyes kept the Ivy title in the family as he succeeded older brother Luke, a senior at Cornell, as the individual champion. Mike Graboyes fired an opening round of 3-under 69, the second-lowest round of the championship, and never looked back, adding rounds of 72 and 73 for a 2-under 214 total that gave him a three-shot victory.

   Big brother Luke ended up tied for 14^th in defense of his title at 8-over 224.

   Harvard had three players finish in the top six to fuel its impressive team success. Daniel de la Garza, a senior from Mexico, earned a share of second at 1-over 217, Greg Royston, a junior from South Africa, finished in a tie for fourth at 2-over 218 with a final round of 2-under 70, and Robert Deng, a senior from Irvine, Calif., shared sixth place with Princeton’s Davis at 4-over 220.

   Kendrick Vinar, a senior from Chapel Hill, N.C., made it four Harvard players in the top 10 as he finished tied for 10^th at 7-over 223. Rounding out the Harvard effort was Aurian Capart, a sophomore from Belgium who finished tied for 21^st at 228. Capart’s finish is a little deceiving in that the 1-over 73s he posted in the first and last rounds were both counters. He struggled to an 82 in the middle round.

   Davis’ Princeton teammate, Alex Dombrowski, a senior from Gaylord, Mich., shared second place with Harvard’s de la Garza at 1-over 217. Dombrowski had the low round of the tournament, a 5-under 67, in the final round to make a big move up the leaderboard.

   Sharing fourth with Harvard’s Royston at 2-over 218 was Yale’s Jonathan Lai, a senior from Hong Kong who finished up strong with a 2-under 70. Sharing eighth place with Dartmouth’s Fahey at 6-over 222 was Penn’s Zareh Kaloustian, a sophomore from Sherman Oaks, Calif. who matched par in the middle round with a 72.

   Also for the Quakers, Amay Poria, a junior from Morgan Hill, Calif., finished tied for 10^th at 7-over 223 after a final-round 74, Josh Goldenberg, a sophomore from Scarsdale, N.Y., finished tied for 23^rd at 229, Carter Thompson, a junior from Tallahassee, Fla., finished 28^th at 232 after a solid final round of 1-under 71, and Matthew Kern, a senior Springboro, Ohio, finished tied for 32^nd at 234.

   At the women’s championship in Orlando, Susanin, who also captured the PIAA Class AAA East Regional title as Radnor marched to the state team crown in 2012, struggled through two rounds with an 82 and an 88, but finished up her Dartmouth career with a flourish, a 4-over 76 over the 6,243-yard, par-72 Orange Tree layout. Susanin ended up tied for 27^th at 246.

   Princeton put an emphatic end to a 12-year Ivy League title drought by running away with the championship by a 31-shot margin. The Tigers finished up with the low round of the tournament, a 5-over 293. That gave them a 27-over 891 total. The Tigers will find out their destination for the NCAA regionals, which tee off May 8, when the fields are unveiled on The Golf Channel Thursday at 11 a.m.

   Harvard was the runnerup at 922, Columbia took third at 926, Penn was fourth at 937 and Susanin and the Big Green shared fifth with Brown at 949.

   The Tigers swept the top two spots in the individual chase, had another player tied for third and a fourth finish seventh.

   Amber Wang, a sophomore from Sugar Land, Texas, carded a final round of 1-under 71 to claim individual honors at 2-over 218. Alison Chang, a freshman from Walnut, Calif., matched Wang’s final-round 71 to take second at 5-over 221.

   Hana Ku, a senior from Basking Ridge, N.J., finished in a tie for third at 7-over 223. Also for the Tigers, Maya Walton, a freshman from Austin, Texas, finished alone in seventh place at 229 and Jordan Lippetz, a senior from Bradenton, Fla., finished 31^st at 249.

   Susanin’s Dartmouth teammate Catharine Roddy, a sophomore from Trabuco Canyon, Calif., shared third with Princeton’s Ku at 223.

   Columbia’s Jackie Chulya, a senior from Thailand, finished up with a pair of 73s in the second and third rounds to finish fifth at 10-over 226. Penn senior Erin Lo, a Penn Charter product, finished alone in sixth at 227 after a final round of 2-over 74.

   Also for the Quakers, Christina Park, a freshman from San Diego, finished tied for 18^th at 237, Allison Wong, a junior from Rockville, Md., finished alone in 20^th at 238, Isabella Rahm, a senior from Sweden, was another shot back in 21^st at 239, and Tiffany Yau, a junior from Porter Ranch, Calif., finished tied for 27^th at 246.