In a finish that came down to the wire, the Dartmouth men's golf team finished second in the Ivy League Championship last weekend after a three-hole playoff left the team one stroke behind the University of Pennsylvania. The team was led by Peter Williamson '12, whose stellar performance captured the individual Ivy League title by eight strokes. The women's team was also in action this past weekend, finishing last out of seven teams in the Ivy League Championship.
The men's tournament was held at the Galloway National Golf Club in New Jersey, where the Big Green jumped off to a quick start. Dartmouth led Columbia University by two strokes after the first round and increased its lead to four after two rounds. James Pleat '13 said that the early success was due to the team's confident attitude of taking the game one stroke at a time.
"We tried to minimize our mistakes," he said. "You can lose [a tournament] in the first round, but you can't win it."
The men were seeking their first league title since 1983 and looked primed to capture it heading into the final round on Sunday. The Big Green, however, was overtaken by a perfect storm of inconsistent play and a very strong day from a charging Penn squad that left the two teams tied at 917 after 54 holes. The Quakers were 16 strokes behind Dartmouth at the start of the final round.
The teams then began a sudden-death playoff in which all five players on both teams replayed the 18th hole, creating an unusual situation with 10 players playing on a single hole at the same time.
"It takes a really long time to play one hole," Williamson said. "The extra time can drain you mentally."
The extended playoff was a unique scenario with which most players were unfamiliar, but it provided an extra dose of excitement to determine the league champion.
"It was nerve-wrecking, but it was a lot of fun," Pleat said. "Guys on the team enjoy playing under pressure."
The score remained tied after replaying the 18th hole, so the teams moved to replay the 17th. Still, neither team was able to take an advantage on the second playoff hole, so the teams once again returned to the 18th, where Penn was able to take a one-stroke lead and finish its comeback to secure the Ivy League Championship.
"It was a combination of not doing the little things and making a lot of big numbers," Williamson said. "The conditions were also very tough."
Despite the disappointing conclusion, the second-place finish marked the Big Green's best results at the Ivy League Championship since a second-place finish in 1995.
The Big Green took advantage of an impressive individual performance by Williamson, who led the tournament handily from start to finish to capture his second consecutive Ivy League title and the third of his career. The win also secured Williamson's unanimous selection as the Ivy League Player of the Year, the third time in his career he has earned the distinction.
"[Williamson] was a great teammate," Pleat said. "He's always a very smart player who is always willing to give us pointers and share insights."
Williamson is only the second golfer in Ivy League history to win three individual league titles. He also became the second Big Green golfer in program history, after Lee Birchall '02, to garner four All-Ivy honors.
The Hanover native shot a two-under-par 69 on Saturday, giving himself a seven-stroke lead heading into the final day of play. He finished with a total three-day combined score of 213, which was even par for the course.
The team also saw significant contributions from Charlie Edler '15, who recorded an overall score of 230, good for a share of seventh place. Pleat shot 232 and ended the weekend tied for 11th place.
The women's team played at the Seaview Golf Club in New Jersey but did not post a successful result. The team finished with a combined three-day score of 1,029, 14 strokes behind sixth-place Princeton University.
"It was a great course," Savannah Grice '15 said. "It was extremely windy the first day, so scores were high across the board. The greens were really challenging, and the rough was thick."
Playing without two of its top golfers, Sarah Knapp '14 and Marietta Smith '12, due to illness, the Big Green was led by Jane Lee '15, who tied for 10th individually with an overall score of 244. Lee's result helped garner her first career All-Ivy honors.
Lee was followed by teammates Kathleen Quirk '12, who tied for 28th, and Grice, who finished in 29th. Harvard University took home the Ivy League trophy with a combined team score of 952.
"It was really cool to just have all the [Ivy teams] there, which we don't usually have," Grice said. "There was a great sense of camaraderie among the teams."
Harvard golfer Bonnie Hu recorded a 12-over-par 225 score to claim the individual title. Michelle Piyapattra of Columbia, who finished fourth over the weekend, was named Ivy League Player of the Year.
Smith is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.
