The Dartmouth men's golf team got off to a great start for the fall when it played at the Granite State Classic this past weekend. The two-day tournament, held at the Conchecho Country Club, was attended by 12 schools, and the Big Green came in fifth.
Co-captain Bryan Kim '95 said he was very happy with how the men played at the tournament. "I was very pleased with the team," said Kim, last year's All-Ivy. "It was a pleasant surprise to see them shoot so well."
Perhaps fifth place in a tournament of 12 doesn't sound outstanding, but considering the way the team played last year, it is. Both Kim and his coach, Bill Johnson, didn't want to comment on the team's past year; they would rather look forward to their tournaments for this season, which include the upcoming Toski Invitational held on Oct. 2-3.
The team, comprised of Kim, Alec Dicks '95, Steve Sugarman '97, and two freshmen, Jay Danzi and MacKenzie Hurd, had a combined score of 600, only 10 strokes above the winning team, Hartford, in the 36-hole Granite State Tournament.
Coach Bill Johnson is both proud and excited about the team's future. "Our goal this year is to win the Ivies," he states with confidence. "We're right on target now, and we're kicking off to a great potential year!"
One of the freshmen on the team, Danzi, is a great addition to the team. At Vestal High School in New York, where he played on the golf team for three years, he placed seventh in the nation at the National High School Golf Championships and was also named an All American player his senior year. When asked how he feels about the Toski Tournament this weekend, Danzi said, "I'm looking forward to it, although we will be competing against some big name schools."
The Toski Invitational will take place in Amherst, Mass. and the team will be competing against 23 other teams, some of which are Yale, Harvard, Brown and Cornell. Success there is likely to make Johnson's Ivy-League dream will come true.
