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The Dartmouth
July 26, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Women's golf team takes 3rd at first Ivy Tourney

Amherst's Hickory Ridge Country Club. The Orchard at Mount Holyoke. Just the names conjure up images of healthy green grass, budding flowers, and baby blue skies. They call it the Happy Valley, and according to women's golf coach Izzy Johnson, playing the quaint courses with their rolling hills and ridges is like taking a scenic tour of the area.

Last weekend Coach Johnson and her team traveled to these two courses in central Massachusetts to compete in the Northeast Women's Intercollegiate Championship, but for the Dartmouth women, the valley was not such a happy place. The women returned with a respectable fifth place finish in a field of 11 teams but were unhappy with their performances.

Freshman Lauren Epstein closed out a fine rookie campaign as she led the Big Green with a score of 175. Samantha Sommers '99 was only 3 strokes behind her teammate, shooting 178. Princeton's Mary Moan took medalist honors, firing 79-76--155 to top Natalie Wong of Yale by a stroke.

As a team, Epstein, Sommers, co-captain Jessica Hughes '97, co-captain Joanna Whitley '97 and Meredith Johnson '98 rang up 36 hole totals of 355-351--716.

The University of Hartford Hawks were the surprise winners of the event after scoring 327-339 for a total of 666. Yale finished ten strokes behind with a score of 676. Princeton and Rutgers finished a close third and fourth, carding 681 and 682 respectively.

"That was a real upset," commented Coach Johnson.

"The Hickory Ridge course played long," she noted. "There was a 2-3 club wind."

The coach was not upset with her own team's performance, noting that her women hit some "really good shots" throughout the weekend. She did concede that they were not as sharp as they might have been.

"Basically I attribute that to having no place to play or practice [in Hanover]," she said. "I thought the other teams were in the same boat until I found out that the Mount Holyoke course has been open for two weeks."

The women have alternated practice sites between over-crowded Leverone Fieldhouse and dry patches of ground outside because their own course is not playable yet. Now the spring season is over, the team has had two championship meets in two weeks, produced two All-Ivy golfers, and still has not played a round at the Hanover Country Club.

Two weekends ago, the team traveled to Beth Page, Long Island to compete in the first ever Ivy Championship. Though the men have had a league championship for years, rules stipulate that there must be five teams in a sport in order to compete for a championship. Brown used gender equity to begin their women's golf program this year, and the women's Ivy Tournament became a reality.

"We were going to give it our best shot and went down Thursday night after classes to play a practice round Friday," Johnson said. Unfortunately a pouring rain had closed the course, so the team walked the links.

The same five women who competed in the Northeast Championship represented Dartmouth in the Ivy Tournament and took a painful third place with a score of 694 in the rain and snow-shortened event. Yale won with 655 and Princeton was runner-up with 693.

Epstein said that the course at Beth Page was fairly straightforward.

"What you see is what you get. If you're doing the right things, you'll score well."

Epstein and Sommers again led the Big Green, gaining All-Ivy Honors by finishing among the top 7 players in a field of 25. Epstein, fighting dizziness on the second day, took fourth place, 81-81--163, while Sommers shot 171 for seventh place. Moan of Princeton also took medalist honors in this meet.

"It was amazing," Sommers said of the Ivy event. "I was kind of honored to have played in the first ever Ivy League Championship. I know it meant a lot to the team to lose second by a shot. We've worked very hard all year and would have been very pleased with second."