The Dartmouth men's and women's golf teams both competed in two-day tournaments to capitalize on the temperate spring weather this past weekend. Coincidently, both teams finished sixth out of 14 teams in their respective competitions.
The men's team made the trip to Springdale Golf Club in Princeton, N.J. for the Princeton Invitational. Dartmouth struggled to keep pace in its first round on Saturday with a team score of 296, 12 shots over par.
The Big Green responded well with an impressive 286 in Saturday's second round, which tied for the lowest team score of the day. Dartmouth finished the round tied for sixth with the University of Pennsylvania at a score of 582.
Dartmouth was led as usual by senior standout Peter Williamson '12, whose rounds of even-par 71 and one-under 70 tied him for fourth place and only three back from the leader. His spectacular round of a four-under-par 67 on Sunday was good enough to give Williamson the overall victory by one stroke over Yale University's Jeff Hatten. Williamson finished the week at five-under 208 to claim his second victory of the year.
Dartmouth's team score suffered on Sunday, however, as the team posted a final score of 22 strokes over par to finish the event in sixth place, tied with Penn. Yale won the tournament with a final team score of six over par.
Charlie Edler '15 backed up Williamson, finishing in second place for the team with a final score of 219. Edler tied for 21st in the 75-person field. An impressive two-under-par 69 from Edler helped the Big Green post the low team overall score in the second round.
Edler contributed his success to his consistency throughout the round.
"It was my second round on Saturday, so I had gotten all the first round jitters out of the way," Edler said. "I was able to start off strong and keep the momentum going."
Edler's round was bogey free until the 18th hole. His 14 pars and three birdies were testament to the value of consistency in golf.
James Pleat '13 finished right behind his teammate with an overall score of 221 for the weekend. Pleat tied for 27th place to round out the top three for the Big Green.
"My first two rounds, I was able to hit the ball consistently," Pleat said. "I've been hitting a lot of greens, and even though I'm not making all the putts, I've been keeping my scores down. Chipping in helps too, of course."
The men's team returns to action this Friday at the Century Intercollegiate event in New York. This is the last tune-up for the team before it competes at the Galloway National for the Ivy League Championship.
The Dartmouth women's golf team competed at the Spook Rock Golf Course in the Roar-EE Invitational hosted by Columbia University. Two strong performances gave the Big Green a sixth-place finish in the 14-team field. Dartmouth finished the event with a team score of 638, and Harvard won the overall team event by six strokes over Columbia.
Jane Lee '15 led the pack for Dartmouth, carding a first round 75 and second round 76, which was good for sixth overall at seven strokes over par. Columbia's Michelle Piyapattra, the defending individual Ivy League Champion from 2011, won the event at even par.
Sarah Knapp '14 finished second for the Big Green. Knapp's 159, 15 over par, was good for 24th overall. Teammate Marietta Smith '12 finished close behind Knapp at 20 over par for 34th place in the tournament.
"I've just been able to keep a good attitude and mental outlook heading into tournaments," Knapp said. "Even if I'm not hitting the ball as pure as I have in the past, my short game has been keeping me in many of the holes."
The women's team will wrap up its season two weeks from Friday at the Ivy League Championships at Seaview Golf Club in Galloway, N.J., where Dartmouth will try to improve on its last-place finish in the 2011 Ivy League Championship. The short game will be key for Dartmouth as the team heads into its final tournament.
"We are all in agreement that we need to improve our putting," Knapp says. "If we can limit our putts, we can all put up good scores."
Smith is a member of The Dartmouth Staff.
