FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — The Columbia men's golf team entered Sunday with a 15-shot lead and did not disappoint, closing out its first tournament victory of the 2023-24 season in record-breaking fashion on a wet and rainy day at Bethpage Red.
A day after setting the program's new 36-hole scoring record, the Lions posted a solid final-round 1-under-par 279 to post the school's new 54-hole scoring record. Columbia held off a rally by Georgetown, winning The Doc Gimmler comfortably by 13 shots at 29-under-par 811.
"It was great. I'm just so happy for all the guys," Columbia head coach Rich Mueller said. "The course definitely played differently today. Hats off to Georgetown for such an awesome round. It just played harder and the rain didn't make it any easier."
Columbia had the top three finishers individually. Senior Nathan Han, a 2022-23 PING All-American Honorable Mention, picked up right where he left off, winning the tournament by five shots over teammate DJ Francey. Han posted a three-round total of 14-under-par 196, breaking his own 54-hole Columbia scoring record from last season (13-under-par 200).
"It's a lot of maturity, patience and believing," Mueller went on to say. "I'm happy that they were patient and managed the rain delay pretty well. We were just mature."
Han shot a final-round 2-under 68 to finish off the individual victory.
DJ Francey was second at 9-under-par 201 with a final-round 71. Meanwhile, junior
Wyatt McGovern completed the weekend in a two-way tie for third at 6-under-par 204.
"To have your guys finish first, second and third in a really strong tournament is incredible," Mueller added. "Nathan went out there today and won it – he's tied for first before but this time he won. He did it definitively. We're proud of him and happy for him, but we're also proud of DJ [Francey] and Wyatt [McGovern]. The guys had phenomenal weekends all around."
Darren Pang, playing as an individual, surged to a tie for 18th (-1) with a final-round 67.
William Sung and
Alvin Kwak, competing in the team competition, shot rounds of 69 and 71, respectively. Sung tied for 27th at 1-over for the tournament in the 87-man field.
Columbia will look for continued success next weekend at the Ryan T. Lee Memorial Collegiate (Sept. 16-17). The tournament will take place at Shuttle Meadow Golf Club in Berlin, Connecticut.
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The Doc Gimmler
Bethpage Red Golf Course
Sept. 9-10, 2023
Team Results:
1. Columbia (-29)
2. Georgetown (-16)
3. Harvard (-14)
4. LIU (-9)
5. Loyola Maryland (-4)
6. Lehigh (-1)
7. St. John's (+1)
8. Lafayette (+3)
9. Rider (+16)
10. Towson (+18)
11. Iona (+21)
11. FDU (+21)
13. Fairfield (+27)
14. Niagara (+34)
15. Hofstra (+71)
Individual Results:
1. Nathan Han, Columbia (-14)
2. DJ Francey, Columbia (-9)
3. Wyatt McGovern, Columbia (-6)
3. Harry Dessel, Lafayette (-6)
5. David Hurly, Lehigh (-5)
5. Brian Ma, Harvard (-5)
5. Fletcher Wunderlich, Iona (-5)
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18. Darren Pang, Columbia (-1)
27. William Sung, Columbia (+1)
54. George Rubelsky, Columbia (+7)
58. Alvin Kwak, Columbia (+8)
