After a strong third place showing at home in the Dartmouth Invitational held at the Hanover Country Club, the men's golf team hit a road bump this weekend at the MacDonald Cup, held at The Course at Yale in New Haven, Conn.
The Big Green finished in 10th place out of a field of 17 teams with an overall team score of 945 in a rare three-day tournament. Binghamton University, the winner of the Dartmouth Invitational, emerged victorious once again, posting a very solid total score of 904.
Robert Lindstrom of Birmingham Southern fired a three round total of 215 on the par-70 course to take home the individual honors.
Individually, team co-captain Matt Uretsky '07 led the way for the Big Green, as he shot 78-72-78-228. He was followed closely by Jamie Wallace '08 who fired an 81-75-75-231. Rounding out the scoring for the Big Green were Rob Henley '09, who carded 78-85-77-240, and rookie Dave Putney '10, who went into the clubhouse with 86-84-78-248.
The course was very challenging, as both pin placements and greens were brutal. Dartmouth was not the only team that struggled throughout the tournament, and scores were higher than expected this weekend. The team also faced stiffer competition this week, with strong teams such as the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Connecticut in the field.
"We played relatively poorly throughout the lineup," Uretsky said. "The course was set up very difficult, with some U.S. Open-style pin locations. Putting was extreme."
Wallace agreed with his teammate. "The course was playing really hard and all the teams were really struggling, especially on the greens," he said. "Scores were very high in general."
Although the members of the team were not pleased with their performances, they showed great perseverance by coming on strong on the final day. Although the team's form was off this weekend, many of the golfers found their groove towards the end of the tournament.
On Friday and Saturday, the squad scored 319 and 317, respectively, before coming back to shoot a 309 on Sunday.
Once the squad finds its form earlier in tournaments, the Big Green should be a force to be reckoned with.
"We had another pretty tough week but we played a little better in the third round," Wallace said. "A few of us seemed to find our games a little bit on the last day so we are looking forward to next week's tournament in Rhode Island."
On the women's side, the team traveled all the way down to William and Mary for the ECAC Championships in Williamsburg, Va. However, six inches of torrential downpour flooded the course at the Kiskiack Golf Club and the tournament was called off late Saturday evening.
The tournament was to be the squad's final match of the fall season. The team will be back in action in the spring, as they look forward to major tournaments such as the Ivy League Championship.
Next weekend, the Big Green will resume play at The Shelter Harbor Golf Club in Charleston, R.I., where team will be competing in the ECAC Championships.
