Dartmouth golfer Peter Williamson '12 made history this weekend, winning the 2009 Ivy League Men's Golf Championship at the Atlantic City Country Club in Atlantic City, N.J. Williamson defeated Eric Salazar of Princeton in a sudden-death three-hole playoff to become just the fourth Big Green golfer to win the competition, the first since Bryan Kim '95 won it 14 years ago.
Williamson's win guided the team to a third-place finish overall, with a combined score of 864 -- just six strokes behind first-place Columbia and five behind the second-place University of Pennsylvania.
Despite his performance, Williamson said he did not perform to the best of his ability. He acknowledged that he was able to come through in big moments.
"I really wasn't playing well the entire week," he said. "My ball striking was questionable, but I seemed to score well when I needed to, so it was a good feeling to know I could do that much."
Williamson, who attended Hanover High School, teed off the championship on Friday, shooting a 69, despite the windy conditions. He entered the second day of competition on Saturday one stroke behind the leader, Columbia's Clark Granum, and then shot another 69 to establish a one-stroke lead heading into the final day of competition.
On Sunday, however, Williamson said he struggled with his game.
"I just wanted to shoot something really low," he said. "But for some reason, I went out there and struggled with my scoring ability. Fortunately, I look at my game as pretty strong mentally, so I can stay in it even if I'm not playing that great."
Williamson displayed his ability to come through in the clutch on the final hole, when he needed to sink a crucial putt for par to force a playoff with Salazar.
"[Dartmouth head coach Rich Parker] said you have to go up and down, or you lose," Williamson said, referring to the final putt. "When I got up to the putt, I felt pretty comfortable about it, and then it went in."
In the playoff, Williamson was able to match Salazar on the first two holes, shooting par on the first and birdie on the second.
On the third hole, Williamson sank a par putt from almost the exact location as the putt that forced the playoff. Salazar then proceeded to miss his putt for par, making Williamson the 2009 Ivy League Champion.
Despite the individual victory, Williamson said he felt conflicting emotions about the championship.
"It felt good, but it was kind of bittersweet," he said. "I felt like I could've played better for the team. We lost by six strokes, so I feel bad I couldn't put up a 67."
The team played a solid weekend of golf, however, highlighted by its stellar performance on day two of the competition. The team shot a combined 280 on Saturday, the lowest combined score on any day for all of the teams in the tournament. In addition to Williamson's solid round, Alex Abate '09 also scored a 69 on the day, while Rob Henley '09 and Davis Mullany '11 both shot a 71.
Parker said he was extremely pleased with his team's effort.
"Saturday was a phenomenal round by any college golf team," he said. "We were able to drop our highest score of 72. I don't know if that's ever been done in the history of Dartmouth."
The Big Green entered the final round of golf in second place, two strokes behind Penn, but ultimately could not close the gap on the final day. The team's third-place finish represented a vast improvement over its sixth-place finish at last year's Ivy League championship.
"We didn't play as well as we wanted to on Sunday," Parker said. "We fell six shots off the pace, but I was still happy for the team. I always preach that we want to be competitive, and we were right in the heat of the battle, and I couldn't be more proud."
The tournament also marked the end of the collegiate careers for Abate and Henley. The duo has been a part of the team for the duration of Parker's coaching career.
"My seniors stepped up in their last tournament," Parker said. "They played an amazing tournament. It was a great way to finish their careers."
Williamson also acknowledged the importance of the two seniors.
"It was really our motivation to play this last tournament for the seniors," he said.
Although the season is over for the team, Williamson said he hopes to practice more outdoors in the coming days, and will compete at the NCAA Regional Championships in May, at a location to be determined.
