Golfer Gonzalez Medals at Ivy Championships

Men place fifth, women are fourth, as Crimson takes to the greens

By John Veneziano

Sports Information, Director

He stole the show at this year's Ivy League men's golf championships.

Harvard senior co-captain Alex Gonzalez (Cd. Juarez, Chih., Mexico) -- who shot a two-day total of 146 at Bethpage (N.Y.) Country Club -- won individual medalist honors and helped the Crimson to fifth overall.

Gonzalez becomes Harvard's first individual winner since Alex Vik '78 turned the trick in 1975 and 1976, and he interrupts the domination of Princeton and Yale golfers at the event. A Tiger or an Eli had won the individual crown 18 times in the 22 years since Vik's back-to-back.

On April 17, the tournament's first day, Gonzalez was one of a handful of golfers who thrived in the windy, wet conditions. He shot a three-over-par round of 73 and found himself in second place, one stroke behind leader Christoph Kyrle, a junior at Penn. Poor weather forced cancellation of the afternoon round and shortened the event to 36 holes for the second straight year.

Conditions were much different on day two, yet Gonzalez turned in a mirror-like round. He posted another 73 to move past Kyrle, who turned in a 75.

"This is a great way to finish off my career," said Gonzalez, who placed 30th at last year's championships. "It feels pretty good. It's my first win in a long time."

Gonzalez was joined on the All-Ivy team by Crimson teammate Matt Dost (North Easton, Mass.), a freshman who went 79-72-151 to tie for sixth place. Dost's two-over-par score on the second day ranked third in the field. Freshman Tim Deardourff (Gainesville, Fla.) was next for the Crimson, with an 83-78-161 that garnered him 32nd.

As a team, Harvard settled for fifth place -- identical to last year's finish -- with a total of 618. Yet the Crimson was 31 shots better than a year ago and was just six strokes out of third place. Penn won the team crown with a score of 599, its first Ivy title in the sport.

The squad followed up that performance with its second straight Greater Boston Championship title, winning by 15 strokes over runner-up Boston College. Harvard had three of the top five finishers at the event, hosted by the Concord Country Club. Dost and Deardourff tied for third by each carding a 76. Gonzalez was fifth, shooting a 77.

Earlier in the spring, Harvard was 15th in the 20-school Yale Spring Invitational, and was defeated by both Princeton and Yale in the H-Y-P match at Springdale Country Club.

Women's Golf Action

The Ivy women's golf championships are in their second year, and are held in conjunction with the men's event at Bethpage. The finish mirrored last spring's debut, with Yale the victor, followed in order by Princeton, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Brown.

Harvard's top finishers in the 36-hole event were senior captain Suzanne Ranere (Belmont, Mass.) and promising freshman Marcie Chan (Wildomar, Calif.), who tied for 16th with their matching scores of 181. Senior Christy Nielsen (Grand Rapids, Minn.), the younger sister of former Crimson men's hockey standout Kirk (Class of '96), earned 20th place with her total of 191.

The spring season began with the Boston College Invitational, held on April 4-5 at Oyster Harbor Country Club. Nielsen was the team medalist, taking 22nd overall with her 27-hole score of 139. As a team, Harvard finished seventh out of 13 entries.