Women Set Program Record with Third Tournament Victory

Sunday, April 16

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

9:00 AM

Dartmouth College

Navy Spring Invitational

The Dartmouth women's golf team poses in front of the Naval Academy sign after winning the Navy Invitational, April 16, 2023

The women's golf team following the team victory at the Navy Invitational

Women Set Program Record with Third Tournament Victory

4/16/2023 4:47:00 PM | Women's Golf

Final Results (PDF)

Five of the Big Green golfers finished among the top six

By: Rick Bender

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — One day after matching a program record for best team score in relation to par with a 3-over 291, the Dartmouth women's golf team equaled that effort in the second and final round of the Navy Invitational, cruising to a 19-stroke win over second-place Yale with a 6-over 582, its lowest 36-hole score in relation to par ever. This is also the third tournament victory for the Big Green, the most ever for the team in a single season.

Five Dartmouth golfers finished among the top six on the leaderboard, led by junior co-captain Katherine Sung with a 2-under 142 as she carded a 71 in both rounds to finish second overall. Freshman Sophie Thai claimed third for her own by shooting 71-74—145 (+1), and senior co-captain Samantha Yao shaved two strokes off her first-round total to take fifth with a 148 (+4). Both Sung and Thai sank eight birdies over the two days, second most among the 47-player field, and Yao led everyone with 28 pars.

Two Big Green golfers — freshman Kim Shen and sophomore Claire Xu — tied for sixth at 5-over par (149), though Xu was competing as an individual. Shen shot a 1-over 73 today thanks to a trio of birdies, and Xu had two of her own as well.

"I couldn't be prouder of this team in how they performed on the course," said Alex Kirk, the Carolyn A. Pelzel '54a Head Coach of Women's Golf. "The greens were fast and firm, so you needed to be below the hole, and we were able to consistently put ourselves in position to score. Our par-5 scoring was much improved this weekend and was a difference maker. And it is very nice to win leading into the Ivy League Championship; we are looking forward to this coming week."

For today's shotgun round at the par-72 6,084-yard, Sung was paired with Yale's Mia Sessa (even par after the first round) and Navy's Stephanie Lee (+1). While Sessa suffered through three bogeys in her first five holes, Lee and Sung were both even in the round through eight with a birdie and bogey apiece.

That's when Lee picked up the pace, sinking birdies on each of the next five holes. Sung posted birdies of her own on nine and 13, leaving her a stroke behind Lee before pulling even on 14 with another birdie. But when Sung bogeyed 16 and Lee dropped a birdie, Lee owned a two-stroke advantage, which she held onto for medalist honors at 4-under par for the tournament.

Dartmouth will conclude the regular season with the Ivy League Championship at the Century Club in Purchase, New York. The three-round tournament begins on Friday, April 21 with one round being played each day through Sunday.

Notes: Prior to this tournament, Dartmouth had shot 3-over as a team only once previously, that coming last October at the Lady Blue Hen Invitational … with a dozen more counting birdies today, the Big Green continued to extend their program record with 229 birdies this year (the previous record was 193 set during the 2016-17 campaign … Sung took over the career lead of rounds played under par with her seventh; Yao and Thai both have six to their credit … Sung has now played 15.5 rounds on the season with a stroke average of 73.68, more than 1.5 strokes better than her average last year when she broke the school's single-season record … Thai also has bested that stroke average at 74.21 over 19.5 rounds this year.