Competing at Twisted Dune Country Club in New Jersey, the team fought through a 14-team field to win with a combined 36-hole score of 611 nine strokes ahead of second-place Sacred Heart University.
The Big Green closed out strongly after a tightly contested first day that ended with Dartmouth leading by only two strokes. The team tied a season-record low of 303 en route to the victory.
"One of my favorite quotes that our captain says is Practice so hard you deserve to win,' and I really think we deserved to win this one," Sarah Knapp '14 said. "We were in the zone, we were committed to every shot, and we knew that every shot was important."
Knapp and Heather Roland '12 shot scores of 150 to finish in a tie for second place in the tournament. Only Sacred Heart junior Carly Bergin bested the Big Green duo, shooting a 148 to take first place.
"I personally had my best tournament ever," Roland said.
Knapp who won the Championship last season by shooting one-over par in a rain-shortened tournament said she was happy with her performance over the weekend.
"I went into it joking that I couldn't do any better than last year so I was just going to have fun," she said. "I didn't do better than last year but I came pretty close, which was pretty cool, especially to share it with my teammate, [Roland]."
Other scorers for the Big Green included Jane Lee '15, who placed sixth by shooting a 154, Marietta Smith '12 who was ninth with a 157, and Colleen Carroll '13, who placed 46th with a score of 174.
Lee has had impressive results in her first Dartmouth season. She tied with Roland for second place at the Invitational, and followed that result by leading the team in scoring at the Princeton Invitational.
"I'm only a freshman, so to be experiencing this already is a great pleasure," she said.
Despite her top-10 finish, Lee said she still struggled with certain aspects of the course.
"The greens were really deep, both long and wide, so I had trouble selecting clubs," she said. "I'm also a short hitter so I have to club up all the time, which was difficult."
Although it did not rain during the competition, the preceding week was filled with storms in the area, leading to difficult course conditions.
"This course was a little bit shorter than Princeton, which in some senses makes it easier," Roland said. "But it didn't play as short as it should have because of the roll with wet conditions."
While Dartmouth was the only Ivy League team to play at the Championship, Big Green players said the tournament served as good preparation for when they face tougher competition.
"Boosting our confidence is a huge part of it," Roland said in reference to competing against other teams in the League. "Staying calm and having confidence and knowing that we can shoot low because we have."
Lee added that the team's camaraderie has helped its success this season.
"We are all really supportive of each other, which really helped," she said.
The Big Green plays next at the Harvard Invitational from Oct. 14-16 in Cambridge, Mass.
"I'm excited to compete against them again, especially coming off of a win and with time in between to train," Roland said.
Dartmouth will likely have to repeat the type of low scoring it exhibited in its Championship win if it hopes to contend in Cambridge. Knapp said she is sure the team will be prepared.
"We're going to practice so hard that we deserve to win again," she said.
