Freshman Brian Isztwan, the regular-season points leader in
the Inter-Ac League’s regular season in each of his last two seasons at Penn
Charter, opened the spring campaign of his freshman season at Harvard in last
weekend’s Desert Mountain Intercollegiate, hosted by Michigan in Scottsdale,
Ariz.
Many of the 12 teams in the field were playing in their
second or third tournament of the spring semester, but academics is a little
bit of a higher priority at the Ivy League schools. Still, the Crimson did
escape a typically endless Boston winter and got to play in some warmer weather.
After opening with a 1-over-par 73 over Desert Mountain’s
7,107-yard, par-72 Outlaw Course, Isztwan added a 78 in Saturday afternoon’s
second round before finishing up with an 80 Sunday afternoon. Isztwan’s 15-over
231 total left him in the group tied for 54th.
It was a big weekend for Southeastern Conference
representative Mississippi State, No. 53 in the latest Golfstat rankings, as the Bulldogs captured their first team title
since 2014 behind individual champion Garret Johnson, a junior from Kimberly,
Ala.
Mississippi State is in the bottom half of the SEC, but such
is the overall strength of the conference on the links that every one of its 14
teams received a bid to an NCAA regional last spring. And I didn’t notice a
whole lot of complaints about it.
Mississippi State took control at Desert Mountain with the
best team round of the tournament in Saturday afternoon’s second round, a
9-under 279. The Bulldogs had opened with an 8-under 280 and took a commanding
11-shot lead into the final round. They finished up with a 9-over 297 for an
8-under 856 total that was six shots better than Kansas, at No. 38 the
highest-ranked team in the field.
The Jayhawks took a No. 43 ranking into last spring’s NCAA
Stockton Regional and stunned the field, claiming the first regional team title
in the history of the program. So yeah, the Big 12 representative has some
players.
Kansas trailed Mississippi State by only a shot after an
opening round of 8-under 280, but lost ground with a 7-over 295 in the second
round. The Jayhawks closed with a 1-under 287 for a 2-under 362 total.
No. 41 Marquette, the runnerup to Georgetown in last
spring’s Big East Championship, was another nine shots behind Kansas in third
at 7-over 871 after posting a pair of 1-over 289s in its last two rounds.
No. 44 Northwestern had a strong start in Saturday’s
double-round, following up a 5-under 283 with a 1-under 287 and was in second
place, 11 shots behind the Bulldogs. The Wildcats backed off with a final-round
302 to finish a shot behind Marquette in fourth at 8-over 872.
Eastern Michigan opened strong with a 5-under 283, but a
final-round 301 left it in fifth place at 11-over 875, three shots behind
Northwestern. Miami of Ohio finished up with a pair of 3-over 291s in its final
two rounds to finish sixth, three shots behind Eastern Michigan at 14-over 878.
Harvard, the last of a pretty nice field of 12, opened with
a 306, stumbled a little Saturday afternoon with a 316 and finished up with a
307 for a 65-over 929 total.
Johnson opened with a sparkling 66, the low individual round
of the weekend, but actually trailed his teammate Ford Clegg, a freshman from
Birmingham, Ala., after two rounds after matching par in the second round with
a 72. But a final round of 3-under 69 gave Johnson a 9-under 207 total and a
one-shot victory over one of Kansas’ Hillier brothers from New Zealand, Henry
Hillier, a sophomore.
Clegg put together rounds of 4-under 68 and 5-under 67 in
Saturday’s double-round to stand at 9-under 135 after two rounds. He may have
had better golf days in his life, but I doubt it. He fell back with a 4-over 76
in the final round to finish in a three-way tie for third at 5-under 211.
Peng Pichaikooi, a junior from Thailand, contributed a
4-under 68 to the Mississippi State’s strong second-round showing. A final
round of 3-over 75 left him in the group tied for eighth at even-par 216. Ross
Bell, a senior from Madison, Miss., also struggled a little in the final round
with a 5-over 77, but finished among the group tied for 22nd at
6-over 222.
Rounding out the Mississippi State lineup was Cameron Clark,
a sophomore from Pittsboro, Miss. who closed with an 84 to finish alone in 65th
place at 242.
Kansas’ Harry Hillier nearly caught Johnson with a final
round of 5-under 67, but settled for runnerup honors in the individual chase at
8-under 208.
Harry Hillier’s older brother Charlie, a senior, joined
Mississippi State’s Clegg and Marquette’s Oliver Farrell, a senior from England,
in the group tied for third at 5-under 211.
Charlie Hillier opened with a 4-under 68 before adding an
even-par 72 and finishing up with a 1-under 71. Farrell opened with a sparkling
5-under 67 before adding a 1-under 71 and finishing up with a 1-over 73.
Marquette’s Hunter Eichhorn, a sophomore from Carney, Mich.
and the reigning Big East individual champion, shared sixth place with Michigan
State’s James Piot, a sophomore from Canton, Mich. at 3-under 213.
Eichhorn carded three straight 1-under 71s while Piot
sandwiched a 1-over 73 with a pair of 2-under 70s.
Leading the way for Harvard was Grant Fairbairn, a sophomore
from Orinda, Calif. who finished in the group tied for 17th at
5-over 221. Fairbairn opened and closed with a pair of 2-under 70 rounds, but
the Outlaw Course got him the second round when he posted an 81.
Isztawn was the second lowest Harvard finisher with his tie
for 54th, followed by Ollie Cordeiro, a sophomore from Winchester,
Mass. who finished among the group tied for 63rd at 240. Cordeiro’s
best round was the opening round when he posted a 77. He added an 82 Saturday
afternoon before finishing up with an 81.
Rij Patel, a senior from Hunt Valley, Md., closed with his
best round of the weekend, a 4-over 76, to finish alone in 67th at
247. Rounding out the Harvard lineup was Aurian Capart, a senior from Belgium
who finished alone in 68th place at 257. Capart carded a solid
3-over 75 in Saturday’s second round, but struggled to solve the Outlaw Course
in the other two rounds.
Harvard’s ultimate goal is to be playing its best golf in
time for the Ivy League Championship, which will be held over the Easter
weekend at Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., site of Reading
native Chip Lutz’s victory in the 2015 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship.
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