Dartmouth Wins Poppy Hills Patriot Invitational

Tuesday, March 21

Pebble Beach, Calif. / Poppy Hils Golf Club

9:00 AM (PDT)

Dartmouth College

Poppy Hills Patriot Invitational

Katherine Sung

Photo by: Lauren Reeves

Dartmouth Wins Poppy Hills Patriot Invitational

3/21/2023 8:38:00 PM | Women's Golf

Final Results (PDF)

Thai posted the best round of the day while Sung took second overall

By: Rick Bender

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The Dartmouth women's golf team fought through the rain and winds that gusted up to 40 mph — the latter of which caused a delay in the middle of the third and final round on Tuesday — to beat out the other 14 teams to win the Poppy Hills Patriot Invitational. The Big Green edged out host Dallas Baptist by three strokes with an 886 (+34), winning their second tournament of the 2022-23 season, which matches the most in a season in program history.

Dartmouth set program records yesterday for a single round (289) and 36 holes (580) on the 5,930-yard, par-71 yard course at Poppy Hills Golf Club, but the weather conditions today saw each of the top five teams shoot a higher score in relation to par than in the first two rounds combined. Yet the Big Green's 22-over 306 was the second-lowest round of the day, allowing them to overtake by DBU and the leader entering the final round, Cal State East Bay to take the team title.

Five of Dartmouth's eight entrants (three played as individuals) finished in the top 10, led by junior Katherine Sung who took second by carding a 70-71-73—214 (+1). Sung began the day tied atop the leaderboard but opened her round with double bogey, but she didn't let it slow her down as she fought back to 1-under on the day through 13 holes. But bogeys on 14, 16 and 18 left her one stroke behind Point Loma's Alli Kim for medalist honors.

Freshman Sophie Thai matched Kim and one other golfer for the low round of the day with a 1-over 72 thanks to three birdies and 12 pars. Her performances allowed her to climb six places in the standings to tie for third with a 71-74-72—217 (+4).

The other contributor to the team score in the top 10 was freshman Kim Shen, who tied for sixth by finishing the tournament with a 7-over 220 after shooting a 78 (+7) with 11 pars and seven bogeys today. Junior Penelope Tir provided the other scoring round with a 12-over 83.

The two individuals to also earn a spot in the top 10 were sophomore Claire Xu and senior Samantha Yao who finished in fifth and tied for 10th, respectively. Xu produced a 5-over 76 today with four birdies after setting a program record with a 3-under 68 in the second round, but she still managed to post her first top-10 finish at Dartmouth with a 5-over 218 and tied for the most birdies in the tournament (12). Yao closed out the three rounds at 9-over par (222) after shooting a 78 (+7) today with nine pars and a birdie to her credit.

Dartmouth will be back in action at the Harvard Invitational in Osprey, Florida, at the Oaks Club on April 8-9.

Notes: With her even-par 71 in the first round, Thai is now second ever at Dartmouth with four rounds of par or better this year. The record is five set by Yao last year … Thai had nine birdies in the tournament to boost her season total to 39, fourth most in Big Green history and four shy of second. Sung set that mark last year with 60 … Sung's two eagles yesterday makes her the first Dartmouth golfer with three in a season … Alex Kirk, the Carolyn A. Pelzel '54a Head Coach of Women's Golf, has guided the team to seven of the program's 11 all-time tournament victories.