This past weekend, the men's golf team began its spring season on an encouraging note, notching a second-place finish at the Yale Spring Opener, while the women's team continued its strong season with a fourth-place performance at the Brown Invitational.
In its opening match at the Yale Spring Opener last Saturday, the Dartmouth men's golf team overpowered other Ivy foes, finishing second out of 12 teams with a team score of 591 over two rounds. The Big Green was only 17 strokes away from catching the University of Tennessee, which won the tournament with an overall score of 574.
"Tennessee is a strong program, and the Southeastern Conference has incredible depth," Peter Williamson '12 said. "We were relatively competitive with them, so that's a great sign."
On the scoreboard, the Big Green was followed by Seton Hall University, Yale University and Brown University.
"Beating Yale at their home course is always a bonus," Williamson said.
James Pleat '13 posted a strong score, tying for eighth overall with a nine-over-par 149. The underclassmen also fared well, with a tie for 12th place between Charlie Edler '15 and Joey Maziar '14. The pair was only two shots behind Pleat with overall scores of 151. Teddy Overton '12 completed the Big Green's scoring with a tie for 37th place at 160.
This was the first competitive team golf event for Dartmouth since the team placed first at The Classic at Shelter Harbor Oct. 15-16. The team's opening tournament was good preparation for the rest of the season, according to Williamson.
"There were tough conditions, and we battled well," he said. "Most importantly, we continued our momentum from the fall, which is exciting."
Williamson led the team and claimed second place individually with an even-par score of 140. He was just one shot away from individual medalist Rick Lamb of Tennessee. Williamson finished one over par in the first round and one under in the second.
His second-place finish adds to a long list of accomplishments for Williamson. Last Thursday, he was named one of five finalists for the 2012 Byron Nelson award, a distinction given to graduating seniors who have displayed academic and athletic excellence as well as good citizenship.
Last August, Williamson made the round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur Championship and took home the Macdonald Cup on Oct. 2 at Yale.
Williamson said he was pleased with the team's performance over the weekend because it bodes well for tournaments to come.
"Playing against any Ivy school shows where we stand for the conference championship at the end of the month," Williamson said.
This weekend, Dartmouth will head to Springdale Golf Club in Princeton, N.J. for the Princeton Invitational.
"If we play to our capabilities, we should be pulling into Hanover Sunday night with a lot of confidence," Williamson said. "We've got a great chance to do something special this year, and hopefully we can keep plugging away and rack up the positive results."
After placing fourth in the opening round of the Brown Invitational, the Dartmouth women's golf team finished fifth out of nine teams on Monday behind Ivy opponents Brown, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale.
"The course was pretty difficult," Kathleen Quirk '12 said. "We're just getting started with the season. It's difficult coming off of spring break not being able to play."
St. John's University won the event with a total score of 629, 53 over par, and Brown trailed by five shots. Penn took third with 637 points and Yale claimed fourth with 642. Dartmouth was farther back with a total of 654, 78 over par.
"It was an important match in that there were other Ivies there," Quirk said. "Our whole season is pretty much about getting ready for the Ivy League Championship, which is really soon. The upcoming match is important in the same way because it will be more Ivy exposure."
Dartmouth's top performer Jane Lee '15 grabbed a ninth-place finish, tying with two others with a two-round score of 158. Sarah Knapp '14 followed close behind to finish in a tie for 13th at 160.
Marietta Smith '12 had a tremendous comeback in the second round, finishing 10 shots lower on the second round to finish at a tie for 26th. Smith shot an 88 in round one but brought it down to a 78 in round two to close with a 166, 22 over par. Savannah Grice '15 and Quirk rounded out the Big Green's scoring with 33rd-place and 44th-place finishes, respectively.
The Big Green women are back in action this weekend at the Columbia Invitational held at the Spook Rock Golf Club in Montebello, N.Y.
