Dartmouth's remaining hope for an NCAA tournament bid went slip-sliding away at the New England Championships in Portsmouth, N.H. last weekend.
Two Big Green players are still entertaining thoughts of making the tournament as individuals.
Once again Bryan Kim '95 led the team, shooting a 74 and a 79 to finish seventh in the individual standings. This finish combined with his solid performance all year puts him on the bubble of making NCAA's as an individual.
"My goal for four years has been to see the team make the NCAA's," Kim said. "Unfortunately, we fell just short this year, but I hope to get a chance to represent the school in the individual competition."
The other Dartmouth golfer"on the bubble" is MacKenzie Hurd '98. Last weekend Hurd shot a 76 in the first round and followed it with a 79.This was good enough for 10th place in the region. While the ballots are still out, Hurd's stellar fall season places him in the top four of the New England District One region.
Day one saw the team's best performance this year.All five golfers scored under 80 in the opening round for the first time this season.
After finishing the first day two strokes back of the University of Rhode Island, the Big Green faltered on the second day to end up a disappointing sixth place. Dartmouth needed to finish first to get to the "big dance."
The conditions proved to be a factor again this week as the rain came out in droves on the second day. Because the Dartmouth golfers were paired in the final group as a result of their first day total, the late rains figured more prominently in their scores than some of the other earlier players.
Senior co-Captain Alec Dicks carded 78, 83 for the tournament.He was disappointed about the finish, but managed to find some positives aspects to the weekend.
"I'm really proud of the team. They played their hearts out all year," Dicks said. "I was honored to be in a program as successful as this one."
Jay Danzi '98 tied with Dicks for the tournament while SteveSugarman '97 ended up one stroke back of those two.
The Big Green next head to Harvard for a match against the Crimson and the Brown Bears.
One bright spot for the team is that senior Bill Buggie will be playing this weekend after being out for the whole spring season.He could provide the spark that the team is looking for.
