The team shot a combined score of 305 (+17) on the first day of the tournament, breaking Dartmouth's first-day, 18-hole team record by three strokes, according to coach Kevin Gibson. The year before, the team finished ninth overall with a first day score of 333.
On Sunday, Dartmouth finished the tournament ninth out of 14 teams with a total three-day score of 939 (75 strokes over par). This score broke Dartmouth's 54-hole record and is the lowest three-round score in the history of the women's golf team. Host Yale University won their tournament finishing 13 strokes in front of runner-up Penn, with a three-day total of 886.
Sarah Knapp '14 led the Big Green finishing in a tie for 26th place, bringing in a final score of 232 16 strokes over par. Co-captain Heather Roland '12 was not far behind, carding a 73, 82 and 79 for a total of 234 (+18) tying for 33rd place.
Gibson, who has coached the women's team for 14 years, said he was pleased with the results of the tournament.
"We had eight people shoot in the 70s, which we will take at any tournament," he said. "The girls gained a lot of confidence, which I hope will carry over in future tournaments."
Julie Campbell '13 brought in a 76, finishing the tournament in a tie for 37th and carding the lower score during the final round for the Big Green.
"One of our main team goals for the past two years is to beat the 18-hole record," Campbell said. "Our main focus has always been to beat that. When we found out during the second round at Yale that we set the record, it was really exciting."
Breaking the record the first day did not phase the team, which was more focused on simply completing the 36 holes they played on Saturday, according to Campbell.
"It was hard trying to stay in the game for 11 hours [playing 36 holes] and just focusing on golf as much as possible without giving up," she said. "Finding out we broke the record was just great motivation to keep going."
Also competing for the Big Green, Katie Gulemi '11 carded a final score of 245 and Kathleen Quirk '12 finished with a 249.
Coming in ninth place at the invitational will motivate the team to improve as it looks to the rest of the season, according to Gibson.
"Even though we played really well this weekend we still need to keep working hard," he said. "We finished a few strokes behind Yale and Penn and ultimately we measure ourselves against the other Ivy League schools. Even though we did well, we still have a lot of work to do."
The team is looking forward to competing in the Eastern College Athletic Conference's 2010 Division 1 Golf Championships this weekend in Egg Harbor, N.J., Campbell said.
"We beat a lot of teams that we normally don't beat," she said of playing another 54-hole tournament. "We are really excited to play again this weekend. It will be a good challenge and I'm really excited."
Gibson added that he has high hopes for his team at this tournament.
"Our biggest competition will be Dickinson and Boston College," he said. "We are looking for a top five finish at least, if not a three top finish."
Campbell added that the team has high goals for the rest of the season.
"I hope our records don't hold for more than a week," she said.
The links-style course in Egg Harbor will pose different challenges than the course at Yale, but the team is excited for the competition, as long as the weather holds up.
"Weather has been dampening our spirits and we haven't been able to practice quite as much as we want to," Campbell said.
Dartmouth is the only Ivy League school that will compete at the ECAC Championships this weekend. The team will wrap up its season playing Harvard Oct. 16-17.
