Captains Lead Big Green on First Day at Princeton Invitational

Saturday, September 24

Princeton, N.J. / Springdale GC

Dartmouth College

Princeton Invitational

April 2, 2022 Women's Golf action at Prospect Bay

Senior co-captain Samantha Yao

Photo by: Larry French

Captains Lead Big Green on First Day at Princeton Invitational

9/24/2022 8:43:00 PM | Women's Golf

Results

Samantha Yao and Katherine Sung shot 6-over par over the first two rounds

By: Rick Bender

PRINCETON, N.J. — Dartmouth co-captains Samantha Yao and Katherine Sung both carded a 6-over 148 over the first two rounds at the Princeton Invitational to open the Big Green's 2022-23 season on Saturday. As a team, the Big Green finished the day at 33-over par (601), tied for fifth with Seton Hall, while Yale wrapped up the two rounds with a 3-over 571 to hold a nine-stroke lead over Harvard for the top spot in the 11-team field.

On a cool day that gradually warmed up with a steady breeze, Yao shaved four strokes off her first-round total with a 1-over 72 in the afternoon, while Sung was one of the field's most consistent performers at the 6,109-yard, par-71 Springdale Golf Club with 28 pars — tied for the most by any player — and a pair of birdies.

Sophomore Claire Xu, playing as an individual, was just one stroke behind the Big Green duo thanks to sinking seven birdies, tying for 16th with a 7-over 149. She also carded Dartmouth's best score of the two rounds with an even-par 71 over the second 18.

"I thought we had good birdie production out there today," said Alex Kirk, the Carolyn A. Pelzel '54a Head Coach of Women's Golf, "but there are more opportunities to get more, particularly on the front nine. We played really well on the par-4 holes, but we need to take better advantage of the par-5s. Overall a really good day on the course, and it was great to be back out there playing competitively again. I feel like we have a very good opportunity to improve our play tomorrow."

The day began well for Sung, who began on the fourth hole in the shotgun start, with eight pars and a birdie over her first nine holes. Even though she had four bogeys on her final nine, she still provided the Big Green's best score of the morning session with a 3-over 74. She then parred 15 holes on her second tour for another 3-over 74 to complete her day, tying her for 13th.

Yao's day started a bit more ominously with a bogey on her starting hole at the eighth. She claimed her only birdie of the round on the sixth, leaving her with a 5-over 76, which was matched by freshman Sophie Thai. Again she bogeyed the eighth start her second round, but this time she added three birdies to finish the round with a 72 (-1), matching Sung in 13th place.

The rookie Thai shot another 76 in the afternoon with 14 pars and a birdie, tying for 31st with a 10-over 152. Junior Penelope Tir rode a bit of a roller coaster, draining seven birdies, tied with Xu for fourth-most overall on the day But she had just four pars to go with five of those birdies during her 6-over 77 in the first round. She settled down a bit in the second round with 11 pars and two birdies while carding a 76 (+5) to finish up at 11-over par, tied for 34th.

Xu provided another up-and-down round for the Big Green in the morning with three birdies and five pars while bogeying the rest for a 7-over 78. But she was stellar on her second go-round, dropping four birdies — including three straight on 12-14 — that were evened out by four bogeys in her even-par 71, climbing 23 places on the individual leaderboard in the process.

Two other golfers made their collegiate debuts for Dartmouth in freshmen Hope Hall and Kim Shen. Hall, who just last month finished second in the championship of the Underrated Tour, showed promise with a pair of birdies in each round as she carded a 78-79—157 (+15), tying for 45th. Shen, playing as an individual, had one birdie in each round but also had 24 pars in shooting a 77-76—153 — identical to Tir — to tie for 34th.

Host Princeton has just three players on the course as individuals due to health and safety concerns, but Yanjun Lu did not let that hold her back as she leads the 71-player field with a 7-under 135, which included the low round of the two rounds, a 5-under 66 to begin the tournament. She holds a five-stroke lead over two Georgetown players, Megan Gormley and Gabriella Gilrowski, along with Yale's Mia Sessa.

The third and final round will begin on Sunday morning with a shotgun start at 9 a.m.