One-hit wonder? Think again. Chaki Kobayashi '06 continued his inspired play of recent weeks, posting a 73-76 -- 149 to lead the Dartmouth men's golf team to a seventh-place finish at the Army Invitational.
Kobayashi once again rode his exceptional touch around the greens to success, placing 10th individually.
"I really hit the ball terribly [this weekend] but got up and down from everywhere," the freshman said on Monday.
Kobayashi hinted that his best is yet to come, responding wishfully, "I just can't wait until my ball-striking comes around, because then I know I will go really low."
The Big Green men will certainly settle for the brilliance he has displayed on the course thus far. A walk-on golfer who gained NCAA eligibility just days before the start of preseason practice, Kobayashi has fired rounds in the 70s in every single tournament he has played since team qualifying in August, a remarkable testament to his consistency.
The men's team took advantage of Kobayashi's scoring and near-perfect course conditions to earn its third top-10 finish in as many weeks and appears to be peaking just in time for the New England Intercollegiate Tournament, which takes place Oct. 21-22.
Senior Jero Esteve finished 22nd with rounds of 74-80 -- 154, showing signs during Saturday's round of 74 that he intends to wrap up his college career with a strong showing in the season's final tournament.
Also contributing for the Big Green's team total of 617 were freshman Kenan Yount (73-83 -- 156), freshman Mark Christman (78-80 -- 158), sophomore Stephen Gruber (82-78 -- 160) and junior Jeremiah Daly (80-84 -- 164).
Gruber spoke of the team coming closer to realizing its enormous potential, and how "[our recent play] has only strengthened our will to win."
As the Big Green guns for yet another top-10 finish, Kobayashi has his sights set even higher.
"I hope that we peak at the New England tournament, when it really matters," he said. "I know that we have the potential to win every tournament we play."
On the women's side of the tee, Shannon Rogers '04 certainly found one way to ignore Chicago's frigid, blustery conditions at this past weekend's Huskie Women's Golf Classic. The junior recorded her first career hole-in-one on the way to an 84-85 -- 169, good for 23rd place, helping the Big Green finish seventh overall.
Rogers, a two-time New Hampshire state champion in high school and captain of the women's team, aced the 142-yard eighth hole with a six-iron, no small feat considering Golf Digest estimates the odds of a hole-in-one at 1 in 33,000.
"I almost couldn't believe that it went in," Rogers said. "I thought it would just be close and didn't think it would go in. Afterwards, I think I was a little shocked. It felt surreal."
Rogers' teammates capitalized on the momentum her shot provided. Junior Kathy Birchall posted the Big Green's only round in the 70s, shooting 79-86 -- 165 to place 13th.
Senior Vivian Lee shot 90-82 -- 172, junior Alison Bergen fired 95-93 -- 188, freshman Becky Halliwell scored 99-95 -- 194 and sophomore Ellen Tani shot 103-101 -- 204 to round out a team total of 694.
The team's seventh-place finish was well-earned, as the women dealt not only with the stress of the season's longest road trip, but miserable conditions that Tani described as being completely hopeless.
"The winds were so strong on Sunday it was hard to do anything -- people's balls would blow away before they could putt them," she said on Monday.
The women's team has one tournament left for the fall season, at the Georgetown Invitational, Oct. 26-27. Rogers described her once-in-a-lifetime shot as the perfect capstone to a season that has already included the team earning third-and-fourth place finishes in tournaments and setting a school record on the first day of the Big Green Invitational.
