The Dartmouth Women’s Golf team etched its name into the history books last weekend, claiming its first-ever Ivy League title at the Ivy championship tournament. The tournament took place at the Stanwich Club in Greenwich, Connecticut from April 19 to April 21.
Team captain Katherine Sung ’24 said the team’s win is an important moment for the program, especially considering that the team was briefly disbanded in 2020 due to financial pressures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The first [Ivy League championship] win in the history of Dartmouth Women’s golf is pretty special,” Sung said. “I’ve spent a lot of time over the last four years, working really hard to build back our team.”
Heading into the final round, the Big Green trailed the Yale University Bulldogs by two strokes, only to rally behind Penelope Tir ’24 — who shot 2-under-70 in the final round. The Big Green finished with a total of 35-over-899 for the championship. Their total score was the lowest in Dartmouth Women’s Golf history at the Ivy League Championship.
Head coach Alex Kirk spoke about Tir’s impressive performance in the final round.
“This team is just resilient,” Kirk said. “Our seniors led us, and Penelope fired 70 in the last round to shoot two under. She played solid, and I think we just had confidence in ourselves.”
Kim Shen ’26 and Kirk said the championship was incredibly significant for the program — particularly for the senior class, which faced adversity when the team was disbanded in July 2020 due to financial cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team was ultimately reinstated in January 2021 due to Title IX complications.
“The seniors were the only ones who had to go through [the disbanding of the team], and golf is such a big part of our identity on campus,” Shen said. “So I feel like it was super special that in their last year, they got to graduate and have this title under their belt.”
Kirk emphasized the team’s remarkable trajectory since the program was reinstated.
“To think that three years ago, we almost didn’t even have a program, and three years later, we have a championship, I think is remarkable,” Kirk said. “The outpouring of support from the alumni or everyone, it’s record-setting.”
On April 25, the Ivy League named Kirk the coach of the year. Sung and Thai were named First Team All-Ivy after finishing top five in the championship last weekend.
According to Kirk, steady play and resiliency have come to be the defining characteristics of this team. He pointed to the Big Green not counting a score higher than 79 the entire tournament.
“We never really had a crazy high round that took us out of the championship,” Sung said.
Sophia Thai ’26 and Sung led the team with a composite score of +6, which placed them both individually in a tie for second — trailing only Princeton’s Victoria Liu. Tir’s 70 in the final round was the best score out of the 90 total rounds played throughout the three-day tournament, and one of only two that broke par.
Kirk said Tir’s clutch performance in the championship was especially impressive because Stanwich is a “notably difficult” course.
Thai’s putt on the 18th hole of the final round officially ended Dartmouth’s tournament play and sealed their victory. In the moment, Thai said she was unaware of the consequences of that final hole.
“Lining up that comebacker, I had no idea what was at stake,” Thai said. “I knew that it was going to be important. But … once it went it was just a sigh of relief because I knew that I tried my best.”
In addition to their skills, the team’s strong sense of community also propelled them toward victory, according to Kirk.
“Golf is a super individual sport,” Shen said. “Outside of golf, we’re all great friends. I think that honestly makes a big difference on the course. There’s just a lot of good energy, good morale [and] team morale, and everyone was really supportive of each other.”
Kirk also commented on the team’s camaraderie, both on and off the course.
“Here’s a special group of players and strong student-athletes,” Kirk said. “Probably the best team I’ve ever coached — not just because we won the title, but from top to bottom on this team, it’s a good chemistry of people and personalities. When you have good karma, good things happen.”
For the women of Dartmouth Golf, the season continues, as they head to Las Vegas, Nevada for regionals. The tournament will be hosted at the Spanish Trail Country Club on May 6-8 and will feature 12 teams — including fourth-ranked UCLA and ninth-ranked Arkansas.
There are six regional competitions throughout the country in May, each with twelve teams competing. The top five teams — out of 30 teams total — will advance to the national championships on May 17-22 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. Six individuals on non-advancing teams from each regional site will advance to nationals as well.
Thai said the upcoming regional competition will be a test of the team’s ability.
“All of us are just focused on regionals to go there, have fun [and] try our best,” Thai said. “It’s going to be a lot more competitive than our regular season play because it is all of the big West Coast and big conference schools participating, but it will be nice to see where we are because I think our team is the strongest that it’s been.”
