Women’s Golf Competes at Ford Invitational

Saturday, February 25

Richmond Hill, Ga. / Ford Field & River Club

8:00 AM

Dartmouth College

The Ford Invitational

Iris Cao watches the path of her putt

Photo by: Alex Kirk

2/25/2023 11:43:00 PM | Women's Golf

Results (PDF)

Freshman Iris Cao tied for ninth but produced the most birdies in the 36-hole tournament

By: Rick Bender

RICHMOND HILL, Ga. — The Dartmouth women's golf team hit the links at the Ford Field & River Club on Saturday for two rounds against Yale, Georgia Southern and Augusta, and the Big Green finished the 36 holes carding a 300-306—606 (+30) to finish fourth. The Eagles of GSU nipped the Jaguars by a single stroke at 12-over par, while Yale ended up at 19-over.

Freshman Iris Cao recorded the best score in the brilliant sunshine for Dartmouth, shooting a 74 (+2) on her first tour of the course followed by a 76 (+4) in the afternoon as the wind picked up at the 6,148-yard, par-72 course, coming in at 6-over to tie for ninth in the 26-player field. She had a bit of a roller coaster ride on the front nine with three double bogeys and two birdies, then played the back nine at even par with two more birdies. In her second round, she struggled out of the gate, sitting at 6-over after only seven holes, but she righted her ship and sank five birdies over the final 10 to finish strong. And her nine birdies tied her with GSU's Abby Newton for the most on the day.

While Cao had the team's low round for the final 18, freshman Hope Hall began the day with the Big Green's best score at 2-over par (74) before shooting 6-over on her return trip. Three birdies and 10 pars allowed her to shoot the 74, and she added four more birdies to her ledger while finding a bit more trouble the second time around, leaving her tied for 14th, two strokes behind Cao with a 152 (+8).

Another freshman, Kim Shen, shot 75-79—154 (+10) with a trio of birdies, tying her for 18th with her classmate, Sophie Thai who reversed Shen's rounds with a 79-75 and four birdies to her credit. Senior Samantha Yao returned from an illness to shoot a 75 (+3) during the first round but ran out of gas over the second 18 with an 81 (+9) to place 21st at 12-over (156). Sophomore Claire Xu completed the Dartmouth contingency with four birdies and a 77-82—159 (+15), tying for 22nd.

"Overall, this was a great competitive training trip," said Alex Kirk, the Carolyn A. Pelzel '54a Head Coach of Women's Golf. "The Ford Field Club is a hidden gem and a premier golf facility. We have the potential to put up some low scores as evidences by our number of birdies, but our short game needs to be shored up a bit and we need to limit our double bogeys. I am really encouraged by our ball striking — solid all-around."

Augusta's Chiara Sola took home medalist honors thanks to her opening-round 69 (-3) before finishing with a two-stroke lead over Georgia Southern's Haley Yerxa with a 143 (-1).

Dartmouth has three weeks before it tees up again at the DBU Invitational hosted by Dallas Baptist at the Poppy Hills Golf Club in Pebble Beach, California, on March 20-21 during the Big Green's spring trip.