So far, 22 students have purchased season passes for the summer, said Alex Kirk, head golf professional at the club. Since students may not have time on weekdays to spend four hours completing 18 holes, it is difficult to judge course traffic by pass sales.
Alex Gerstein '15 said he purchased a pass, which costs $300 and allows an unlimited number of rounds and advanced tee-time reservations, to "commit to playing as much as possible." Before this summer, he had only played one full round at the course.
Gerstein said he is often paired with members of the Dartmouth community, including Jack Stinson, the owner of Stinson's, and Aggie Kurtz, women's athletic director.
The course's busiest season is the spring, with summer being one of its least popular terms due to the small number of students on campus.
"Every year really fluctuates based on simply who wants to play," Kirk said. "There are some people who have passes, and some who just play occasionally."
Students who pay for each round instead of purchasing a pass have played over 200 rounds since Commencement, Kirk said. Students pay a reduced $30 daily rate to walk on and complete 18 holes, compared to the $55 public fee.
In addition to those who walk on to play, 30 students have enrolled in golf courses for physical education credit.
Scott Gladstone '15, who enrolled in the class because his family and friends know how to golf, said he finds the lessons relaxing. Though he has not yet played 18 holes on the College's course, Gladstone said he appreciates how each lesson incorporates a new aspect of the game, ranging from driving to putting.
Kirk said he is excited to see how Peter Williamson '12, a former Tommy Keane Invitational champion and three-time Ivy League player of the year, fares at this August's U.S. Amateur Championship at the Country Club at Brookline, Mass. He is currently ranked among the top amateur players in the world.
"We've been following him for a long time," Kirk said. "We're hoping it goes well."
Last weekend, the Hanover Country Club hosted the 38th Annual Tommy Keane Invitational, held in honor of the College's first golf coach.
Grouping golfers into three separate brackets by competition level, the invitational pairs participants in teams of two that compete with one another. This year's championship team winners were Tyler Silver and Zach Pollard, two Lebanon High School graduates.
Because the invitational is a closed event, Kirk said that families visiting for sophomore family weekend could not enter the course.
"Unfortunately, last weekend we had a conflict, and we were closed to outside play, though I did have parents interested in playing," Kirk said.
For the first time, the course also hosted a golfing event at the Prouty fundraiser, which raised over $2.6 million for Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
Raising approximately $50,000 for cancer research, about 150 golfers turned out for the July 13 Prouty tournament. Kirk said he expects the tournament to become a Prouty tradition.
The Hanover Country Club's course opened in 1899 as a nine-hole course and expanded to its current 18-hole setup in 1922.
*Gerstein is a member of The Dartmouth business staff.**##
Michael Riordan contributed reporting.
