The Harvard men’s golf team finished tied for eighth place at the NCAA Athens Regional, according to a May 21 announcement. This marks the best performance by the team at Regionals in its history.
The result is significant as Harvard not only surpassed two top-50 teams but also broke several program records during the event. The team ended just ten shots short of qualifying for the NCAA National Championship Tournament field.
Harvard’s overall score was 843 (-9), and their final round score of 278 (-6) set a new low mark for an NCAA regional round in program history. Barry Zhang led the Crimson with a tournament total of 202 (-11), earning him individual runner-up honors and marking both the highest-ever finish and lowest score relative to par by a Harvard golfer at Regionals. “Barry Zhang’s T4 finish is the highest ever by a Harvard golfer at NCAA Regionals,” said officials in the release. “His score in relation to par (-11) is also the best at regionals in team history.” William Ma contributed with his best round on day three, shooting a 67 (-4) and finishing tied for fourteenth—another historic mark for Harvard golfers.
Other notable performances included Ieuan Jones, who secured a T64 finish after rebounding with a third-round score of 72 (+1). Isaac Ahn was among only six golfers to record an eagle during play, while Morgan Riley closed out his tournament tied for sixtieth after carding three birdies on his final nine holes.
The regional field featured strong competition from nationally ranked programs such as Vanderbilt, Louisville, Auburn, BYU, Georgia, Charleston, Southern Miss, Northwestern (with whom Harvard tied), Rice, Kansas and Illinois. Malan Potgieter of UL-Lafayette took individual medalist honors with a tournament-best fourteen under par.
Looking ahead, although Harvard narrowly missed advancing to Nationals this year by ten strokes behind fifth-place Georgia’s qualification mark, their performance sets new standards within their program and demonstrates progress against some of collegiate golf’s top teams.
