Men's Golf Takes Third at Columbia Autumn Invitational

Monday, October 11

Kingston, N.Y./Wiltwyck Golf Club

TBA

Columbia University

Columbia Autumn Invitational

Photo by: Mike McLaughlin

Men's Golf Takes Third at Columbia Autumn Invitational

10/11/2021 9:28:00 PM | Men's Golf

Final Golfstat Scoring Team Leaderboard Player Leaderboard Team/Player Leaderboard Final Results (PDF)

Three Lions finish in field’s top-10 including Daniel Core (fourth), DJ Francey (ninth), and Alvin Kwak (ninth).

KINGSTON, N.Y.—Three Columbia golfers placed among the field's top-10 individuals including senior Daniel Core (fourth), sophomore DJ Francey (ninth), and Alvin Kwak (ninth) as the Lions finished in third place in the 12-team Columbia Autumn Invitational played Monday at Wiltwyck Golf Club. Columbia combined for a five-over-par 281-300-581 in the one-day, 36-hole event. Final scoring on Golfstat is available at this link.

Columbia and Harvard finished the first round tied for first place in the team competition as the Ivy League rivals separated themselves from the field with a seven-under-par 281. Led by a career-low 67 by Wyatt McGovern, the Lions used a 70 by first-year William Sung, 72 by sophomore Nathan Han, and 72 by junior Pat Healy to accumulate their score. The 281 ranks tied for the eighth lowest team round in school history and third lowest round vs. par (-7).

But with a hot hand all day long, Harvard pulled away early in the second round to win the team competition as it posted an 18-under-par 281-277-558. Harvard's Kevin Sze won the individual competition at nine-under-par 68-67-135. Harvard placed three golfers in the field's top-5. Dartmouth finished in second place.

Nevertheless, Columbia's entire seven-man roster experienced success at certain moments the event.

"I really credit our captains for having a great team meeting last night and talking to the guys about coming out with intensity today," Columbia Director of Golf Rich Mueller said. "We were a little flat last week. It showed in the first round as we had our best round of the year, so far. The second round, it dropped off a bit, and unfortunately, we had some bad breaks. Wyatt (McGovern) went down with a little bit of an injury, but he fought through it and finished his round. We're proud of him for that. Our two individuals—Daniel Core and Alvin Kwak—absolutely went out and lit up the golf course. I'm so proud of those guys and how they played."

"It just really showed that anyone in our lineup has the potential to go low at any given time. We're excited about that."

While playing as an individual, Core ended up with his best performance of the fall at five-under-par 70-69-139. In the first round, he fired a 70 with birdies on holes 2, 7, back-to-back on 12 and 13 and 18. He followed it up with an even better 69 as he hit four birdies on the back-nine. Core ended the day with a team-best 10 birdies, the second-most in the field.

Francey came on strong in the second round as he posted at Even 74-70-144 for a ninth place finish. In the second round, he registered 13 pars and four birdies. In all, he totaled nine birdies on the day.

Sophomore Alvin Kwak, also playing as an individual, registered his best performance of the fall as he finished ninth place at Even 75-69-144. Kwak came back in the second round with three straight birdies on holes 2, 3, and 4 and added birdies on 13 and 15.

Sophomore Nathan Han placed 22^nd at three-over-par 72-75-147. He used three birdies to post an Even 72 in the first round.

First-year Wyatt McGovern finished the first round in first place in the individual standings at five-under-par 67. He was on fire as he sank seven birdies on holes 2, 6, 7, 9 on the front nine and three straight on 16, 17, and 18. His 67 ranks tied for the 12^th lowest round in school history and ranks tied for the fifth lowest round vs. par in school history. He ended the day in 22^nd place at three-over-par 67-80-147.

First-year William Sung shot five birdies to finish with a first round 70. His birdies came on holes 6, 7, 12, 16, and 18. He placed 26^th with a four-over-par 70-78-148.

Junior Pat Healy finished in 29^th at five-over-par 72-77-149. He ended with four pars on the day.

Columbia was the only team in the field that placed all of its golfers in the field's top-30.

Participants included Bryant, host Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Fairleigh Dickinson, Harvard, Iona, Lehigh, Manhattan, St. John's, St. Peter's, and St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.).

The Wiltwyck Golf Club is a par 72, 6,877-yard course. More information on the course is available at these three links: Course website, Complete Course Information.