Men and women's golf teed off about Ivy showing
This past weekend the men's golf team competed in the Ivy League Championships at the Ballyowen Golf Club in Hamburg, N.J. Drilling in a final round of 380, the Big Green took sixth place after playing 54 holes. The golfers were disappointed with their performance, as they said they believed that they did not meet their true potential.
Freshman sensation Jamie Wallace had an excellent outing however, posting a 224 final score, with a 69 in the final round. He finished 10th overall, which was the highest ranking for the Big Green. Following right behind him was co-captain Chaki Kobayashi '06, who finished with a 226 and a 16th place finish overall.
Sophomores Matt Uretsky and Steve Reyes finished with a 230 and 236 respectively. Chris Crawford '08 rounded out the team with a 253.
Although there was dissatisfaction among the Dartmouth team, Wallace said, "We had a better final day than we did the first day, which will give us some confidence going into our tournament this weekend."
Wallace also said that in order to be successful the team would "need to break through our mediocrity. We have a team of good players but we have not yet put together a great tournament. We really need to focus and get something accomplished in the tourneys to come."
There should be a strong showing at the District championship tournament coming up this weekend, but the Big Green is quite solid and as a result should have a good run if the entire team plays as well as they are capable of. Uretsky said that the team aims to bring home a title by the end of the season, which seems like a solid goal considering the glimmer of excellence that these individuals have shown during the spring season.
Meanwhile the women's team battled through a seaside course with a grueling 25 mph wind that blew steadily throughout the tournament. In the end, the Big Green posted a mediocre seventh place finish at the Ivy League Championships, held in East Hampton, N.Y. Coach Kevin Gibson, frustrated with the conditions, lamented, "The conditions, 20-plus mph sustained winds and temperatures in the 40s led to high scores, not only for us but also all the other Ivy schools. It was not a true indication of the talent that is out there in the Ivy League."
The Maidstone Club, where the tournament was held, is one of the finest venues in the nation as it ranks 62nd on the list of top 100 golf courses voted on by the Golf Digest. The women played a solid game on the first day of play, as Gibson noted, "We played good on Saturday afternoon [round two], and we were only six shots out of third place."
However, the Dartmouth women found it difficult to get into a real rhythm during the third round and finished a disappointing seventh.
There were some individual highlights though, as Hayley Stevens '07 finished 20th for the Big Green. She recorded a 90-80-98 to close her out at a 268. Dupuy finished at 275, but recorded an astounding hole-in-one at the eighth hole. Although it was a frustrating day for the golfers, it was clear that they were enthused about this rare event, noting that it was the best moment of the tournament.
Among the others that competed for Dartmouth, Libby Wegener '08 shot a 275, while Anne Daher '07 recorded a 280 and Ann Kapusta '07 came in at 285. Princeton ended up defending its championship from last year, while Yale came in second.
The Big Green is excited for next year, as Daher noted, "I know we were all very disappointed to end our season the way we did, and we are all planning on working on our games this spring and summer."
Gibson added, "We are a young team, three sophomores and two freshmen. We need to improve on being more consistent from round to round. If they can work hard on their games this Spring and Summer, I believe that will happen. They know what they have to do to get there scores lower."
As of now, the Dartmouth women will use this last tournament as motivation to train during the offseason and come out firing for next year.
