In their first competition of the season, the women's golf team finished sixth out of a 14 team field at the Dartmouth College Golf Invitational this weekend.
The Big Green finished with a two-day, 36 hole score of 701, 66 shots behind the leader and perennial powerhouse, Princeton.Rutgers finished in second place with a score of 656.
The meet was held at the Hanover Country Club, and the home course advantage may have been a benefit for the for the trio of Sara Vogler '96 (89-86), Jessica Hughes '97 (91-84) and Samantha Sommers '99 (90-85) who all finished at 175 for the weekend. Lebanon's Meredith Johnson '98 (90-86) was one shot behind at 176.
Coach Izzy Johnson was pleased with both the performance of her team and with the way the tournament went in general.Eighty-one players participated from the 14 teams that made the trek north to Hanover, and a few of the teams competed in the two-day Invitational for the first time.
"We had the biggest field we've ever had for the Dartmouth Invitational," Johnson said."The team did well for the first tournament. It's kind of a warm-up tournament. Everybody has been waiting to play."
"Our short game needs some work. We had some putting problems both days," she said, noting that one of the things the team will concentrate on in practice this coming week will be chipping and bunker shots.
It is especially important that the Big Green improves in that area, as Yale's course, where the team competes next weekend, has some treacherous sand traps.
Junior Jessica Hughes shot a score of 84, which the best on the team for the second day.
"Jessica had her best tournament round ever," Johnson said. "She played a lot of golf and worked on her game on her own [over the summer]. She has a real great attitude."
Hughes echoed her coach's sentiments about the team's short game.
"The short game is definitely what is going to make the team," Hughes said. "We've all been playing real well. We hope to do much better next weekend."
Because they hosted the tournament this weekend, the Big Green were able to field two teams, so all nine women were able to compete instead of the normal five.
Captain Heidi Corderman '96 said that though it was very cold at the 8:30 a.m. shotgun start, both the weather and the team warmed up as the day progressed, and the team is headed in the right direction.
"The second day was better than the first, and we are pleased with finishing better [Sunday] than on Saturday," Corderman said.
Looking ahead, both coach and players agreed that Yale has a very challenging course, but that they have a good shot at doing well.
"The team is much stronger this year, more comfortable with competition," said Johnson.
After next weekend's Yale Fall Invitational, the linksters travel to Mount Holyoke for a final tune-up two weeks later before heading to Princeton for the ECAC Championships.
