At age 58, Jack Nicklaus was able to use his extensive knowledge of Augusta National to shoot a surprising 68 Sunday, and finish sixth at the Masters, outdistancing the likes of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Colin Montgomerie.
For the men's golf team, the challenge also lay in conquering familiar terrain, as it faced off against Harvard and Yale at its home course, Springdale Golf Club, this weekend.
Saturday, the Tigers called upon their wealth of experience to outpace the Elis by 11 strokes, 368-379. Princeton also stepped over Harvard, cruising to a 21-shot victory over the Crimson.
After losing the Harvard-Yale-Princeton event to Yale the previous two years, the Tigers saw junior captain Ben McConahey fire a two-under 69, while junior Rob Hays and sophomore Judd Pritchard both added one-over-par 72s. Freshmen Peter McWhorter and Max Gage shot 77 and 78, respectively, to finish out the Tiger scoring. Princeton's victory was its first at H-Y-Ps since 1995.
Anytime, anywhere
Despite Princeton's home course advantage, the Tigers' performance was strong enough to succeed at any course.
"We would have beaten Yale anywhere," Pritchard said.
McConahey, the team's most emotional player, entered the tournament "pumped up for the team." While his enthusiasm spread over the entire team, McConahey also put together a masterful round himself.
Coming out of the gate, he recorded three straight birdies. On the par-4 fourth, he lipped out his attempt for a fourth straight.
"When you start playing well, you just have to keep pushing it," McConahey said. "When you get to three under, you just try to get to four under and five under."
Cooler
Though he cooled off for the rest of the front nine, bogeying both five and six, he recorded another birdie on the par-5 10th. The putts stopped falling on the rest of the back nine, but his short game helped to keep him from bogeying any holes over an up-and-down back side.
Hays caught some of McConahey's birdie fever as well. After speaking with the captain, Hays rebounded from bogeys on one and three to birdie four, five, and six. Like McConahey, he also missed a short putt on seven for yet another birdie.
Beyond this streak of low numbers, Hays played consistently, hitting 13 greens over the course of the round. With solid iron play, he kept himself from falling into great trouble.
Green thumb
Pritchard cited his experience on Springdale's greens as an important part of his success Saturday. Playing the back tees for the first time on the season, he often needed a hot putter to save par.
After a poor start, Pritchard put things together. On the seventh hole, he entered a tough four-hole stretch where he bogeyed three holes.
"I lost my focus there," he said. "But I kept my head in it. I am fighting more; I am not giving up as easily as last season."
H-Y-Ps gave the Tigers a final tuneup for the Ivy League Championships, which begin Thursday at the Red course at New York's Bethpage State Park. Princeton's golfers will fight to regain the title from Yale, the two-time defending champions, and they look to use Saturday's results and their experience on the Red course from the fall's McLaughlin Invitational to build their confidence going into the tournament.
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