The Dartmouth men's golf team enjoyed success at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association championship this weekend, finishing in fifth place of 46 schools. While this was a positive finish for the Big Green, they were not satisfied, they said, as they know that they could do better.
Chaki Kobayashi '06 said, "Well, this weekend was kind of disappointing. We played poorly on Monday, and a little better on Tuesday, although we shot one stroke higher. The conditions on Tuesday were not conducive to good scoring. It was cold, rainy and windy, but we played decently, all things considered, coming in with four scores in the 70s."
Hotshot freshman Jamie Wallace continued to have a strong impact on the team, finishing in a tie for fifth with a two-round score of a 150. Kobayashi finished with a 155, Kenan Yount '06 with a 157, and sophomores Matt Uretsky and Steve Reyes rounded things off with a 163 and 168, respectively.
The potential of this team is clear, they just need to mesh together and play well at the same time, rather than the staggered performance they seem to have now.
Kobayashi remarked, "As it has been the past couple of years, our team has great potential, but we make a habit out of not realizing it. The difference this year is that we're a better team than we've been, so our mediocre play is better than it has been in the past. We need to go out this spring and win some tournaments, including the Ivy League championship."
The team's upcoming match against Brown will give the Big Green a good idea about how they stand in the Ivy League. It will be key for them to have rounds that stay within the 70s if they plan on a solid showing.
As Yount said, "The key to college golf is making sure that none of the starting five shoot above 80, which means that guys not having a good day really need to stick in there and grind. As long as we ensure five scores in the 70s, we will have a great weekend."
