Sung, Thai Lead Dartmouth to Six-Stroke Lead at Navy Invitational

Saturday, April 15

Annapolis, Md. / U.S. Naval Academy Golf Club

10:00 AM

Dartmouth College

Navy Spring Invitational

Sophie Thai (left) and Katherine Sung are all smiles after tying for the lead after the first round of the Navy Invitational.

Photo by: Bryan LaFountaine

Sung, Thai Lead Dartmouth to Six-Stroke Lead at Navy Invitational

4/15/2023 9:34:00 PM | Women's Golf

Results (PDF)

The Big Green tied a program record by shooting 3-over par for the round

By: Rick Bender

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A late weather delay couldn't slow the Dartmouth women's golf team on Saturday as junior Katherine Sung and freshman Sophie Thai each shot a 1-under 71 in the opening round of the Navy Invitational. The duo ended the day tied atop the individual leaderboard, helping the Big Green hold a six-stroke lead over the other Ivy League school in the field, Yale, at 3-over par (291).

This is just the second time Dartmouth has shot 3-over par as a team in a single round, the other coming last fall at the Lady Blue Hen Invitational, which the Big Green eventually won.

Thai had it going from the start, sinking a birdie on the opening hole and adding two more to reach the turn at 2-under par. She then added three more birdies to give her a tournament-best six on the day and was sitting in the lead at 4-under through 14 before a trio of bogeys on the final four holes brought her back to the field.

Sung may have bogeyed that first hole, but she quickly rebounded with a birdie on two. Three more birdies had her one stroke behind Thai through 14 at 3-under, and only a double-bogey on 17 kept her from being in the lead by herself.

The other three golfers contributing to the Dartmouth score all had par-filled days. Junior Penelope Tir sank 14 pars and a birdie to finish up at 2-over on the day, good for a tie for eighth place. Senior Samantha Yao led the field of 43 players with 15 pars to her credit as she shot a 75 (+3) to tie for 11th. And freshman Kim Shen was only one stroke behind Yao at 4-over with 14 pars on the 6,084-yard, par-72 course.

The Big Green also had three others competing in the tournament as individuals, led by sophomore Claire Xu who carded a 72 (E). She was tied for the lead through 10 holes thanks to three birdies, but three bogeys the rest of the way brought her back to even to put her in a tie for third. Freshman Iris Cao overcame a slow start to tie with Tir for eighth at 2-over (74), matching Xu with three birdies in her round, as did freshman Hope Hall who wrapped up her day tied for 16th with a 5-over 77.

The second and final round will be a shotgun start that begins tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Dartmouth will be paired with Yale and host Navy, which is tied for third with Fairfield with a 312 (+24).

Notes: Thai has played six rounds under par, the most in a single season ever at Dartmouth … she also has 53 birdies this year, seven behind the team record of 60 set by Sung last year … Thai, Sung and Yao share the program record with six career rounds below par … the Big Green have 217 birdies from scoring rounds on the year, extending the program record it set last week.