Behind individual champion Liu, Princeton gets back on top in Ivy League with victory at The Ridge at Back Brook

    With the NCAA regionals set to tee off Monday, there was one more women’s conference championship I wanted to get to, even if no national champions are likely to emerge from the Ivy League.

   The first Ivy League Championship in three long years concluded April 24^th at The Ridge at Back Brook in Ringoes, N.J. with Princeton, behind individual champion Yanjun Liu, a freshman from Canada, capturing the team crown for the third time in the last four playings of the championship.

   College golf was forced to shut down in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020. But while most college golf programs had returned to the golf course by the spring of 2021, the Ivy League never allowed any of its sports teams to compete throughout the 2020-2021 school year.

   It was at The Ridge at Back Brook where the Ivy League women had last gathered to compete for a conference championship in the spring of 2019. Harvard had ended Princeton’s two-year reign back then, but the Tigers were back on top three years later.

   Liu opened with a 1-under-par 71 over the 6,174-yard, par-72 Ridge at Back Brook layout and never looked back on her way to a dominating five-shot victory in the individual chase. She matched par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 1-over 73 for an even-par 216 total.

   Princeton trailed surprising Columbia by four shots after the Tigers opened with a 12-over 300, but they bounced back with a solid 4-over 292 in the second round to creep within two shots of the Lions, who added a 6-over 294 to their opening-round 296.

   Princeton closed with another 12-over 300 for a 28-over 892 total that left the Tigers three shots in front of Columbia, which closed with a 305 for a 31-over 895 total. Jennifer Wang, a senior from Solon, Ohio, led the way for Columbia as she was the runnerup to Liu in the individual chase with a 5-over 221 total.

   Princeton will represent the Ivy League as the 11 seed when the Stanford Regional tees off Monday. It is unlikely that the Tigers will be among the top four finishers that will advance to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., but the fact that they got a chance to compete for a conference championship this spring is good news.

   It was an historic weekend for the Columbia golf program as the Lions’ 895 total was their best ever at an Ivy League Championship and their 31-over finish was their best in relation to par at the conference championship.

   Harvard finished five shots behind Columbia in third place with a 36-over 900 total as the Crimson added a 9-over 297 in the second round to their opening-round 305 before closing with a 298.

   Dartmouth and Yale finished two shots behind Harvard in fourth place, each landing on 38-over 902.

   Dartmouth had dropped its men’s and women’s golf programs in the immediate aftermath of the beginning of the pandemic, but golf was restored by the time the fall portion of the wraparound 2021-2022 season got under way. Pretty sure some well-heeled Dartmouth golf alumni jumped into the fray to rescue the sport at their alma mater.

   After opening with a 306 at The Ridge at Back Brook, the Big Green added a 300 in the second round before finishing up with a 296.

   Yale struggled in the first two rounds, adding a 306 to its opening-round 307 before turning things around in the final round with the best team score of the weekend, a 1-over 289.

   Penn never seemed to get back in the groove when golf finally resumed from the long pandemic-enforced layout for the Quakers last fall. Penn carded back-to-back 307s in the first two rounds at The Ridge at Back Brook before closing with a 306 to finish last of the six teams in the Ivy League Championship field with a 58-over 922 total.

   Backing up Liu for Princeton was Yu Kyung Kim, a sophomore from South Korea who sandwiched a 1-over 73 in the second round with a pair of 75s to finish alone in seventh place with a 7-over 223 total.

   Kyung Eun Lee, a freshman from Honolulu, Hawaii, gave the Tigers a third finisher inside the top 10 as she sandwiched a solid 1-under 71 in the second round with a pair of 77s as she ended up in the group tied for 10^th place with a 225 total.

   Tiffany Kong, a junior from Canada, bounced back from an opening-round 81 with a 76 in the second round and her best round of the week, a 3-over 75, in the final round as she finished among the group tied for 20^th place with a 232 total.

   Rounding out the Princeton lineup was Grace Ni, a junior from Cypress, Texas who finished in a tie for 24^th place with a 233 total as she registered back-to-back 77s in the first two rounds before closing with a 79.

   Columbia’s Wang opened with a 76, but then ripped off the best individual round of the week, a 3-under 69 in the second round before closing with another 76 as she earned runnerup honors with her 221 total.

   Yale junior Ami Gianchandani, a product of The Pingry School, had finished fourth as a freshman three years ago at The Ridge. She was one better this year as she finished among a group of four players tied for third place at 6-over 222 total.

   Gianchandani was tied for the lead with Princeton’s Liu following an opening round of 1-under 71, but she struggled in the second round with an 80. She finished strong, posting another 71.

   Joining Gianchandani at 6-over were Harvard’s Anina Ku, a senior from Basking Ridge, N.J., Dartmouth’s Katherine Sung, a sophomore from Palo Alto, Calif., and Wang’s Columbia teammate, Taylor Zeng, a freshman from Windermere, Fla.

   After adding a 76 in the second round to her opening-round 75, Ku closed strong with a 1-under 71. Sung opened with a solid 1-over 73, struggled a little with a 78 in the second round and also finished strong with a 1-under 71. Zeng matched par in the opening round with a 72, added a 76 in the second round and finished up with a 2-over 74.

   Gianchandani’s Yale teammate, Ashley Au, a sophomore from Westerville, Ohio, and Ku’s Harvard teammate, Chloe Rayston, a sophomore from South Africa, shared eighth place, each finishing a shot behind Princeton’s Kim with an 8-over 224 total.

   After opening with a 78, Au posted a 2-over 74 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 72. Like Au, Rayston got a little better each round, adding a 75 in the second round to her opening-round 76 and finishing up with a solid 1-over 73.

   Sung’s Dartmouth teammate, junior Samantha Yao, winner of back-to-back District One Class AAA titles in 2016 and 2017 during an outstanding scholastic career at Conestoga, had a solid showing at The Ridge, finishing among the group tied for 16^th place with a 13-over 229 total. Yao opened with a 3-over 75, added a 78 in the second round and closed with a 76.

   Leading the way for Penn was Natalie Cao, a freshman from Sugar Land, Texas who finished alone in 13^th place with a 10-over 226 total. Cao opened with a 75 and added a 77 in the second round before finishing up with her best round of the weekend, a 2-over 74.

   Backing up Cao for the Quakers was Leila Dizon, a senior from Los Angeles who finished in a tie for 14^th place with a 228 total. Dizon carded back-to-back 3-over 75s in the first two rounds before closing with a 78.

   Eunice Kim, a freshman from Edgewater, N.J., finished in a tie for 24^th place with a 233 total as she registered back-to-back 78s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 77. Mary Shin, a senior from Irvine, Calif., finished alone in 27^th place with a 235 total as she sandwiched a 77 in the second round with a pair of 79s.

   Rounding out the Penn lineup was Susan Xiao, a junior from Canada. Xiao was only able to post a score in the final round, signing for an 83.