This past weekend, the Princeton men’s golf team looked to defend their home ground as they competed amongst 14 teams in the Princeton Invitational at the Springdale Golf Club. The Tigers had both an A and a B team participating in the tournament, accounting for two of the 14 teams participating. Aside from Brown, all of the Ivy League golf programs participated.
After the first 36 holes, it did not seem clear who would end up on top. However, the Tigers left no question on Sunday as they secured a convincing 12-shot lead over the second-place Howard Bison.
It took an impressive outing from sophomore Riccardo Fantinelli, who tied the modern program record for low score and low score to par since GolfStat started tracking these records in 1993-94, after shooting a 65 (-6) in the Final Round this weekend. Fantinelli’s performance on Sunday vaulted him from 11th to 1st, earning him a share of medalist honors alongside Howard’s Everett Whitten, Jr and Gregory Odom Jr.
“It took practice and some clutch putting to win,” Fantinelli told The Daily Princetonian. Fantinelli showed his composure on the green as he shot under par in six of the nine holes in the back nine of his outing on Sunday.
Princeton also had two more golfers place within the top 10. Senior Jackson Fretty finished in third with a final stroke count of 208 (-5). Meanwhile, junior William Huang cooled off after a hot start and finished in ninth with a final stroke count of 214 (+1).
After round one, it looked like the Tigers would need to do more work as they stood two strokes behind co-first-place Howard and Columbia. Princeton sat in third place overall after round one. Despite slow starts from Fretty and eventual champion Fantinelli, Huang kept Princeton in contention as he carded four birdies and an eagle en route to a 67 (-4) and was tied for second after round one.
However, it was not William Huang’s hot start that was the highlight of the round. Rather, it was first-year Charlie Palmer who had the highlight of the tournament, recording a hole-in-one in the par-3 13th hole.
“It was a surreal feeling,” Palmer told the ‘Prince.’ “Having my assistant coach as a caddy, I give all the credit to him.”
The ace from the first year kept him and the Tigers within distance as he finished the round with a stroke count of 75 (+4).
The slow start from the Tigers did not last long, as Fretty caught fire in round two.
“I was pleased with my putting and short game,” Fretty told the ‘Prince.’ Fretty birdied seven of the 18 holes as he paced the second round.
Fretty finished round two five strokes under par and vaulted to fifth place on the day with Huang and Fantinelli not too far behind him, respectively in 7th and 12th place.
The other two golfers, Palmer and first-year Tommy Frist, were outside of the top 25 after day one.
However, being one stroke behind first-place Howard, Princeton had to come out swinging in round three, and they delivered. After taking the lead, they never looked back. Paced by Fantinelli’s strong outing, Princeton collectively shot six under on the day.
Fantinelli shot six strokes under par and Fretty finished the round two strokes under par. After ending nine strokes over par on day one, Frist bounced back and finished with a one-under-par round three showing.
“I’ve been working on my game and finishing one-under par was the highlight of my day,” Frist told the ‘Prince.’
Charlie Palmer continued his strong performance by finishing even on the day.
“My ball-striking was pretty good throughout the tournament and I had a hole-in-one,” explained Palmer as he continued his momentum through Sunday.
Palmer and Frist after round three jumped up the leaderboards to 22nd and 26th respectively. Huang cooled off in round three as he finished three over par.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do before the Ivy League Championship,“ Huang said, further explaining that he hoped to work on his driving and putting approaches.
With the team win, Princeton now turns their attention to the Ivy League Championships, as they look to repeat as Ivy League Champions. Taking place from April 19-21st, the Tigers will head to Watchung Valley Golf Club in Watchung, NJ looking to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Regionals.
Matthew Yi is a Sports contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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