Summer Edition

Golf Team Wins Ivy League Championship

BY ALEX SACHARE

Steve Oh `99 sank a dramatic 12-foot par putt on the 18th hole of the final round to win the first-ever Ivy League golf championship for Columbia, which defeated Yale in a tiebreaker. The golf team is coached by Al Carlson, with Gail Flanagan the assistant coach.

Five golfers compete for each school, with each playing three rounds at the Bethpage, Long Island course April 16-17. The top four scores comprise the team total, but if the schools wind up tied, the scores of the fifth golfers determine the team champion. Oh's putt gave Columbia a four-round total of 882, but Columbia's fifth-man score was two strokes better than Yale's.

Individually, James Massey `01 tied for fifth place and thus earned All-Ivy honors with a three-round total of 221, four strokes back of Yale freshman Chris Eckerle. Oh and Nathan Kielbasa `02 finished at 222, Scott Grossman `00 shot 223 and Omer Salamut `00 shot 224.

Oh was paired with Yale's Eddie Brockner in the last twosome on the course on Saturday, April 17.

"Last year, a Penn player came to the last hole going for the individual title and his coach didn't tell him what he needed," said Flanagan. "Steve had criticized that. When we saw Steve on the fairway, Al Carlson reminded me of that and I ran out to the fairway to tell him where he stood. I asked him his situation and he told me he was one behind Brockner. I told him we were one ahead of Yale, and would win on the fifth-man tiebreaker. We both knew he'd want to know. Under pressure, Steve is one of the best I've ever seen."

Oh had to match Brockner's 18th-hole score for Columbia to win. Oh's second shot on the par 4 hole found the rough to the left of the green, while Brockner's was on the putting surface, 25 feet away. Oh's chip shot from a muddy lie went past the hole about 12 feet. "I heard the whole team saying, `Stop ball, stop, stop!'" Oh recalled. When Brockner's birdie putt stopped two feet away from the hole, Oh knew what he had to do--sink the 12-footer to give Columbia the win.

"I remember taking more time just to think about it," said the senior from Scarsdale, N.Y. "It was a fast green. I knew I had to be careful not to over-hit it. I've been in a lot of tournaments like this, and I've always made do-or-die putts.

"When I put a ball down, I usually turn it so the Columbia logo is up. This time it already was up, and I sighted over the logo. I said, `Okay, here goes.' As I hit it, I thought, `Good stroke.' As it neared the hole, I knew it was in."

After he retrieved his ball, Oh got about five feet from the cup before he was tackled by his teammates, the new Ivy League champions. Then they joined Carlson and Flanagan. "Our coaches were so overcome with joy, they were silent and frozen, like they were in shock," said Grossman. "Coach (Carlson) had tears in his eyes. Coach always makes a speech at the end, when he thanks everyone at Bethpage and the Ivy League. Then he goes home with the scores. This year, he went home with the trophy."