April 24, 2011

Yale Claims Ivy Title, NCAA Regional Berth

Bulldogs Win By 20 Strokes

GALLOWAY, N.J. – An across-the-board performance on the final day's play has seen the Yale men's golf team take the Ivy League Championship by a vast 20 strokes at the Galloway National Golf Course at Galloway, N.J.

The win marked Yale's ninth Ivy League title and its first since 2003, and it earned the team an automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Championship field.

"This is the day that we have been working for all year," said head coach Colin Sheehan '97. "It was a thrill to watch them compete today because all five of them played their best golf in the most important round of the year - and that says something about their character."

The Bulldogs set themselves up perfectly for their Sunday charge – on Saturday, they finished in second place, just two strokes behind Ivy League rival Penn.

Sunday, the Elis powered through the day with a score of 288 to finish at an overall team score 908 (+56), 20 strokes clear of Columbia, which pushed its way up the leaderboard to take second place with a team score of 928 (+76). Penn was three strokes further behind with an overall team score of 931 (+79). The win broke the Lions' three-year winning streak at the Ivy League Championship.

Senior captain Thomas McCarthy came into the tournament on the back of a stellar season, and certainly did not disappoint on Sunday, shooting the day's best round of 70 (-1). With that round, McCarthy managed to move up the leaderboard to finish in outright second place, with an overall score of 224 (+11).

By the end of the day, McCarthy was just a single stroke behind tournament leader Peter Williamson of Dartmouth, who finished on 223 (+10) after leading at the end of every day's play.

But it was a team effort that saw the Bulldogs secure the crown, and not far behind McCarthy were junior Jeffrey Hatten and sophomore Bradley Kushner, both of whom capitalized on strong season momentum to finish in a tie for fourth overall. They finished on an overall score of 227 (+14) over the three rounds of competition.

Also figuring up the top of the leaderboard was freshman Sam Bernstein, who notched up a final round of 72 (+1) to finish at 230 (+17) for the tournament, a score that saw him end in outright ninth place. Bernstein's strong finish was consistent with his performance throughout the season, which included a first-place finish at the Princeton Invitational.

For his efforts, Bernstein was voted the Ivy League's Rookie of the Year by the eight Ivy League coaches. McCarthy, Hatten and Kushner made the first-team All-Ivy for their performance in the tournament, while Bernstein made the second-team All-Ivy.

Senior Michael Fader likewise had a consistent performance throughout the tournament, finishing on 243 (+30) in a tie for 28^th place.

"I just want to say this - it was a team effort," Sheehan said. "No team can win with just the contributions of its top players."

As a result of the victory, the Elis will participate in the 2011 NCAA Championship, which features six regional sites where 54-holes of golf will be played on May 19-21. The top five teams from each regional will advance to the finals, which will be played on May 25-30 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla.,

The six regional competitions will be hosted by Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, San Diego and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Report filed by James Lu '14, Yale Sports Publicity

Final Team Standings
1. Yale (306-314-288--908)
2. Columbia (319-307-302--928)
3. Penn (308-311-312--931)
4. Dartmouth (314-315-311--940)
5. Princeton (310-316-315--941)
6. Harvard (324-310-311--945)
7. Brown (318-316-318--952)
8. Cornell (330-317-314--961)

Individual Top-12
1. Peter Williamson, Dartmouth (69-78-7--223)*
2. Tom McCarthy, Yale (75-79-70--224)*
3. Brendan Doyle, Columbia (74-75-77—226)*
t4. Jeff Hatten, Yale (76-78-73—227)*
t4. Brad Kushner, Yale (77-77-73—227)*
t4. Scott Williams, Penn (74-74-79—227)*
t7. Michael Amato, Brown (74-78-76—228)^
t7. Clark Granum, Columbia (80-76-72—228)^
9. Sam Bernstein, Yale (78-80-72—230)^
10. Colin St. Maxens, Penn (80-77-74—231)^
t11. Andrew Jankowski, Dartmouth (76-76-81--233)^
t11. Mark Pollak, Harvard (79-75-79--233)^

* - First Team All-Ivy
^ – Second Team All-Ivy