FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Harvard men's golf opened up its season with a fifth-place finish at the 2024 Doc Gimmler tournament at Bethpage State Park. The three-member first-year class for Harvard led the way with three top 15 individual performances at Bethpage Red and world-famous Bethpage Black course.
 
First-year William Ma collected his first career top 10, with a seventh-place finish after carding rounds of 70 (E), 68 (-2) and 77(+6) in the tournament.
   

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Harvard made its way to Long Island to compete in the Doc Gimmler hosted by St. John's for the 14^th consecutive season. This tournament had an interesting wrinkle as play shifted from the Bethpage Red Course (the primary host course for the tournament) over to the world-famous Bethpage Black Course for the final 18 holes. The wildly difficult track will be hosting the 2025 Ryder Cup next Fall.
• The Crimson came out hot in the first 18 holes of the tournament on Monday morning, throwing up a team score of three-over-par, 283. Ieuan Jones paced the team with a two-under round of 68 in the first round while Ma carded an even-par score of 70.
• Harvard went low in the second round at the Red Course, putting up a tournament low team score of six-under par, 274. Sophomore Jonathan Hartono's round of 66 featured five birdies to lead the team, while Jones posted another two-under round of 68 to push the Crimson up into second place at the end of the first day of competition.
• Individually, Jones found himself in third place at the conclusion of 36 holes in his first collegiate golf tournament.
• In the final round, play shifted over to one of the most difficult courses in North America, the Bethpage Black Course. The challenging track proved lived up to the hype as every individual in the field shot over par and the lowest team score read 16-over-par.
• Harvard competed well on the course despite its slope and difficulty, carding a modest score of 311 or 27-over-par. First-year Barry Zhang rose to the occasion on the Black course, shooting a three-over 74, that featured four birdies, to card the third-lowest round on the course. William Ma also performed well, shooting a six-over-par round of 77. The score helped Ma climb into the top 10 in the field.
• At the end of play Harvard found themselves in fifth place overall with a team score of 868 and 24-over-par.

 

HARVARD HIGHLIGHTS

• William Ma came in seventh out of 69 total golfers in his first collegiate tournament. Ma came in four-over-par to record his first career top 10 finish.
• Harvard's two other first-year, Ieuan Jones and Barry Zhang, both finished T15 with tournament scores of seven-over-par.
• Jonathan Hartono carded the lowest round of the tournament, shooting a four-under 66 in the second round.
• As a team the Crimson posted the lowest team round of the tournament with its six-under in the second 18 holes on the Red Course.
• Barry Zhang went toe-to-toe with one of the most challenging golf courses in the nation to shoot an impressive three-over-par 74 on the Black Course at Bethpage. The score was the third-lowest in the field on the track.
• William Ma posted a team-high ten birdies.
• Jeff Fang, playing as an individual, carded a bogey free score of 70 in the second-round.

 

RESULTS

Team Results

1 | Long Island | +15
2 | St. John's | +20
3 | North Dakota State | +21
4 | Columbia | +23
5 | Harvard | +24
 

Individual Results

7 | William Ma | +4
15 | Ieuan Jones | +7
15 | Barry Zhang | +7
31 | Jonathan Hartono | +10
40 | Jeff Fang (Ind.) | +12
53 | Diego Saavedra-Davila | +18
 

UP NEXT

Harvard will be back on the course in 10 days when it makes the trip out to Lake Placid to compete in the Columbia Fall Invite. The 54-hole tournament will be played at the Lake Placid Club on Saturday and Sunday, September 28-19.