Gerken delivers another Ivy title
By: Justin Feil
Jason Gerken didn’t fully understand the situation as he settled over his ball on the 54th hole of the Ivy League Championships.
"Coach told me in the fairway we were up 2 shots total on the team with four players in," said the Princeton University senior. "I kind of didn’t hear that. I thought I could give up another shot. I didn’t know my two-and-a-half footer was for the win. That may have been a good thing."
Gerken played the part of the veteran he is and calmly holed out his par putt to give the Tigers a one-stroke win over Columbia for their third straight Ivy title Sunday while finishing fourth as an individual.
"He is certainly the best player that I’ve had in seven years," said PU head coach Will Green. "He’s one of the best players Princeton has had in last 20. He’s a very special talent. For four years, he’s done what he did Sunday. He did what he had to to get the ball in the hole. It was something to see how calm all of them were throughout.
"If I had to put one person out on the 18th, he’s the one, knowing we needed a par."
It wasn’t the simplest of pars even if it finished with a putt only about as long as his club. Gerken almost had to absorb a penalty when it took 4 minutes, 51 seconds to locate his tee shot. By rule, players have five minutes to find a missing ball before taking a penalty stroke. With between 30 and 40 people looking for the ball, it was the Columbia coach who finally found it buried in the fairway after a magnificent tee shot had carried some fairway bunkers.
"We were nine seconds away from a lost ball," Green said, "and a lost championship.
"It was pretty amazing. This one is much sweeter," he added. "It was a really emotional day. We had a lot of back and forth. The elements made it more difficult. It was cold. It was rainy. The final round almost got cancelled because of the weather. There were conflicting emotions all day long."
Princeton, which won the Ivy championship by 31 strokes last year, was nip and tuck with the Lions all weekend in miserable weather conditions at Ballyowen Golf Club in Vernon. After the first round Saturday, Columbia held a two-stroke edge. Gerken fell victim to one of his toughest rounds, a 4-over 76.
"I got down on myself in the first round," he said. "It led to bogey after bogey. Then I made six birdies in second round, and a bunch of bogeys too. It was a matter of maintaining focus and putting all I had into my putts. I was struggling. I made sure to make some birdies because I knew I’d have bogeys."
Gerken shot par 72 in the second round as the Tigers bounced back to take a four-shot lead into Sunday’s final round. Gerken again shot par 72 when his ball was found in the nick of time for another Tiger title.
"I was worried but not freaking out yet," Gerken said of the search. "I didn’t actually know we were almost approaching the five-minute mark. I was starting to wonder how you could lose a golf tournament after hitting a great shot. It would have been remarkable."
Of course, there are plenty of what-ifs in a tournament decided by a single stroke. It made this year’s title a little more special knowing that each and every Princeton player counted equally importantly. Andrew Maliniak tied for sixth, Jesse Dixon and John Sawin tied for ninth and Brent Herlihy tied for 12th. They were all within seven strokes of each other to help pull out a satisfying victory.
"I think because Columbia had actually beaten us a couple times, including two weeks ago at Princeton, we knew they were good team and had to play well to beat them," Green said. "With the back and forth the last few holes, this is as rewarding a victory as I’ve had in seven years. And we’ve had six (Ivy titles). The players did exactly what they had to to win.
"Our freshman, Drew Maliniak, he was absolutely enormous for us. He was paired with Columbia’s best player. For a freshman to be paired with a player like that, it can be intimidating. He fought for 18 holes to put a score on the board that helped us win. We talked about it on the ride home. It was as much of a team effort as we’ve had. We didn’t put all of our eggs in one basket for any one player. They all came through when we needed it most."
The win means the Tigers has qualified to compete in the NCAA Regionals on May 18. They conclude the regular season at the Cavalier Classic in Virginia on Saturday and Sunday. It’s been an up and down regular season with Sunday’s win definitely a highlight.
"We spend the spring gearing up for Ivies," Gerken said. "We knew we weren’t going to get one of the four at-large spots to regionals, so we better win Ivies or the season is over. Whether that served as motivation or extra pressure, I don’t know. The spring was a little disappointing, but at the same time, winning Ivies and knowing we have a couple weeks to prepare for regionals is pretty exciting at this point.
"It’s always our goal to make it out of regionals," he added. "We’ve never all had our games together at the same time. I think we can do that this year."
If anything would give the Tigers confidence, it’s a thrilling one-shot win for the Ivy League Championship. As Princeton headed out to practice two days after its win, there was still an unmatched sense of satisfaction for Gerken.
"We knew Columbia was playing well," he said. "We knew that it would be a hard tournament. We weren’t going to take anything for granted. To go in with a four-shot lead, and then all of us stumbling down the stretch, for me to make par on the last hole, that was really satisfying as a senior."