Yao Aces 11; Women Climb Three Places at Princeton

Sunday, September 29

Princeton, N.J. / Springdale GC

18 holes

Dartmouth College

Princeton Invitational

Freshman Samantha Yao

Photo by: Bryan LaFountaine

Yao Aces 11; Women Climb Three Places at Princeton

9/29/2019 3:30:00 PM | Women's Golf

Final Results

Freshman Samantha Yao holed out on the par-3, 156-yard 11th hole.

By: Rick Bender

PRINCETON, N.J. — While the Dartmouth women's golf team climbed three spots in the final standings at the Princeton Invitational on Sunday, it was freshman Samantha Yao who stole the show. Playing as an individual, the rookie aced the par-3, 156-yard 11th hole en route to a 2-over 74 on the day as she tied for fifth overall at even par in the 80-player field.

The Big Green began the day in 10th place and proceeded to shave two strokes off their first-round score while other teams had more difficulty on the par-72, 6,121-yard course. Sophomore Kristen Chen once again led the Dartmouth five, finished the tournament with a 75-74—149 (+5), tying for 18th overall. She was the team's steadiest performer with a dozen pars and a pair of birdies in her round.

Like Chen, freshman Angela Zhang knocked off a stroke on her second tour, carding a 76-75—151 (+7), good for a tie for 23rd. Her 18 today included four birdies, as did sophomore Kaitlyn Lees who matched Zhang's score today and finished strong with birdies on the final two holes to move up into a tie for 42nd.

Junior Julianne Strauch also contributed to the Dartmouth total with an 8-over 80, tying for 53rd, while senior Maddie Nelson ended up in 73rd place.

While her teammates started their rounds on the first hole, Yao teed off on the back nine and quickly provided the highlight of the day by knocking her tee shot on the 11th hole into the cup. She added three birdies to her total and carded a 70-74—144 (E) for the two rounds.

Seton Hall took the team title with a 1-under par 575, seven strokes ahead of the host Tigers, with Dartmouth tied for seventh with Columbia at 34-over. Taking home medalist honors was Yale's Amy Gianchandani at 6-under par (138), while Princeton's Grace Ni and Seton Hall's Samantha Stoudt finished three strokes back in a tie for second.

Dartmouth will play one more tournament this fall on Oct. 19-20 at the Lady Blue Hen Invitational.

Note: Yao wasn't the only golfer with a hole-in-one in the tournament. Laura van Staden of Rollins College aced the par-3, 147-yard fifth hole on Saturday. Oddly enough, Brown's Pinya Pipatjarasgit witnessed both shots as she was paired up with van Staden on Saturday and Yao today.