In its final tournament of the fall season, the Big Green men's golf team finished as the runner-up at the Ivy League Match Play Tournament in Princeton, N.J. on Sunday. Having edged out close wins against reigning Ivy League champion University of Pennsylvania and No. 1 seed Yale University, the Big Green came up short against Princeton University in the championship round, losing a tight contest to the Tigers by winning one match, dropping three and tying one.
The event held at TPC Jasna Polana followed unusual rules from regular college golf tournaments. Each team played five golfers, who were each matched up against one opponent from the opposing team. The golfer who won more holes between the pair earned a point for his team, and the team with more points won the round.
Arriving in Princeton on Saturday, the Big Green faced an uphill battle, facing matchups against Penn and Yale. Host Princeton had a relatively easier time with Brown University and Cornell University in its draw.
Dueling back-and-forth with Penn in its first-round match, the Big Green saw Joey Maziar '14 and Charlie Edler '15 win their matches with captain James Pleat 13 and Dylan Rusk '16 taking losses. The match was left up to freshman Charles Cai '16, whose match remained undecided heading into an one-match playoff.
Cai, who received updates from head coach Rich Parker, said that while he knew the other matches were tight, he was not aware that his game had the potential to lose or win the round until after he won the playoff on the first hole.
"It was pretty exciting, but right away, we needed to get ready for Yale," Cai said.
Against the Bulldogs, the Big Green golfers found themselves in another nail-biter, with the fate of the round again coming down to Cai's match.
"All of my teammates were watching, and some parents, so it was a pretty cool atmosphere," Cai said.
With the course darkening as evening swooped in, Cai pulled out another clutch win and won the round for Dartmouth.
"You can't test a kid's innards, but that kid has a lot of heart," Parker said.
Moving on to play Princeton on Sunday, the Big Green struggled to find another miracle finish, eventually losing, 3-1-1, in the championship round.
"I felt like we were exhausted after two unbelievable matches," Parker said. "We probably should have won the final round, but we had a tough road to get there."
Princeton, playing at home, also had the advantage of having played the course many times, leading to several key shots dropping their way, according to Cai. Rusk pulled off the only individual win against the Tigers, while Pleat tied with his Princeton counterpart.
While the Big Green finished the fall season on a high note, the team sustained several bumps along the way. Dartmouth finished ninth out of 10 squads against top-notch competition at the Shoal Creek Invitational before placing a disappointing 15th out of 19 teams at the Big Five Invitational.
At Shoal Creek, the Big Green faced tough teams, such as Louisiana State University and the University of Memphis, and was the only team from New England in the field. Dartmouth finished ahead of only Southeastern Louisiana University.
"Going to Shoal Creek for us is like going to Disneyland," Parker said. "When we rolled into the parking lot and saw all those Mercedes buses and the full scholarship D-I teams, our goal was just to beat one of them."
Pleat, one of only three seniors on the team, was also impressed with the team's performance at Shoal Creek, even though they didn't finish in the top half of the bracket.
"We definitely had to change our expectations at Shoal Creek, but we managed to hold our own against top teams," Pleat said.
Over the course of the season, the Big Green managed to improve immensely, setting the table for an even more improved performance come spring season. As the fall progressed, the team's younger players managed to shine, particularly when it counted most.
"At first, a lot of it was getting them used to college as a whole," Pleat said. "We had to teach them the ropes, but they've picked it up pretty quickly."
The Big Green does not take the course again until the spring season when they hope to build off their remarkable close to the fall season.
"Every kid's out on the course today and the season is over," Parker said. "That's a testament to where we hope to be in the future."
