With extreme consistency and solid putting, Mackenzie Hurd '98 captured the ECAC championship last weekend and led his team to a fifth place finish in the competitive eastern tournament.
"I thought we played well," Coach Bill Johnson said. "Our goal was to place in the top five and I knew we could do that if we all played smart golf and let one player ride, which Mackenzie did."
Hurd, who is the first Dartmouth student in 20 years to capture the title, shot an amazing 71 on Saturday to give him the lead and he followed up the next day with a solid 73 which was a low enough score to give him the victory.
The second place winner of the tournament had only one shot above Hurd.
"I'm still in shock," Hurd said. "I didn't really think about winning until I entered the back nine on the second day. I went in to help the team and I knew that to do so, I would have to play well."
Hurd played better than well as he maintained his consistency throughout the tournament.
"Really I just played basically as well as I could," Hurd said. "I didn't make many mistakes. It just seemed to click like it never had before."
"He managed the course and himself very well," Johnson said. "He set up his hot putter. The greens were treacherous and he read them and handled them very well."
Although freshman fall is generally a difficult adjustment period for students, Hurd fought against that standard and has proven to be a stable force for the Big Green.
"I knew he would be good," Johnson said. "When he's hot, he's capable of everything, and he's been hot. He has fun playing the game and enjoys himself while competing. It's refreshing to watch him."
According to Hurd, the team made the change to college golf a smooth transition. "The guys on the team have been really great, and our coach has really been accepting of us freshmen."
Alec Dick '95 feels that Hurd is deservant of the team's respect." In the four years of playing Ivy League golf, I haven't seen any player, much less a freshman, make such such an impact on the tournament scene."
With Hurd shooting so well and being only four shots out of the lead after one day of play, the Big Green had hoped to place higher and were somewhat disappointed with the overall results.
"It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either," Captain Bryan Kim '95 said. "We were in the hunt after the first day, but we had some short game problems. The greens were really tough. Some days are just not really good days, and with the exception of Mackenzie, we all had that experience on the same day."
One extra pressure the Big Green felt was the injury of Jay Danzi '98, which prevented him from playing up to his potential. Thus, the remaining four Dartmouth golfers knew their scores had to be high.
In the end, Dartmouth was only four shots away from second place with a total of 627. The surprise of the tournament was the Harvard squad's astonishing play on Sunday. The Crimson managed an 11 stroke victory, putting a 612 total.
"Harvard played some really good golf, and you have to give them credit," Kim said. "But I would be surprised if they could pull it off consistently."
Dartmouth will have an opportunity to avenge its loss to Harvard next Monday and Tuesday when the Big Green wrap up their season at the New England Championships in Cape Cod, Mass.
The tournament, which will host approximately 50 teams is, undoubtedly, the Dartmouth golf team's biggest event.
"I'd like to win it," Johnson said. "All we have to do is play smart golf and support the front runner. Hopefully, we'll get somebody hot, and if we can get two people with hot hands, then I think we can win it."
However, conditions will likely be rougher than last weekend's warm sunny days.
"It's most likely going to be much colder, making playing difficult," Hurd said. "It's more pure survival than anything.
Yet the Big Green still have high expectations, and with such goals in mind, Dartmouth knows it must pull together as a team in order to succeed.
"If we can putt a little better and give Mackenzie some support, I think we can do well," Kim said. "It definitely seemed like Mackenzie was carrying a big load on his back, and we need to change that."
