Record-Setting Round Boosts Women’s Golf Into Fifth at Princeton

Saturday, September 16

Princeton, N.J. / Springdale Golf Club

9:00 AM

Dartmouth College

Princeton Invitational

Katherine Sung had 26 pars and four birdies over the two rounds.

Photo by: Brian Foley

Record-Setting Round Boosts Women’s Golf Into Fifth at Princeton

9/16/2023 7:53:00 PM | Women's Golf

Results (PDF)

The 4-over 288 in the second round is the lowest single round in program history

By: Rick Bender

PRINCETON, N.J. — After carding a 303 (+19) to finish a windy opening round of the Princeton Invitational in seventh place, the Dartmouth women's golf team shaved 15 strokes in the afternoon round to set a program record with a 288 (+4) and climb into fifth place with a 591 (+23). Senior co-captain Katherine Sung wrapped up the day tied for fourth thanks to shooting 71-73—144 (+2).

Georgetown jumped out to the lead over the first 18 holes and maintained its position in the 12-team field at the par-71, 6,109-yard Springdale Golf Club with a 283-293—576 (+8), nine strokes ahead of Penn. Host Princeton ended the day in third place with a 19-over 587 with Harvard two strokes behind the Tigers and two ahead of the Big Green.

"We got off to a slow start with the windy conditions, but we played much better in the afternoon on a course that is in tremendous shape," said Alex Kirk, the Carolyn A. Pelzel '54 a Head Coach of Women's Golf. "That second round really put us in position to compete tomorrow and make a move up the leaderboard."

Opening the shotgun start on the first tee, Sung parred the opening hole before suffering a bogey on the second but immediately rebounded with a birdie on three. She proceeded to par 13 of the final 15 holes with a bogey on eight and a birdie on the short, 126-yard par-3 13th to finish the first round tied for fifth at even par. In the afternoon, Sung struggled early in the round with bogeys on two and three before sinking consecutive pars on five and six. She then dropped 10 straight pars before finishing with two bogeys on the final two holes, wrapping up her day with a 2-over 144, which still moved her up one spot in the standings tied for fourth, four strokes off the pace.

Both senior Penelope Tir and sophomore Sophie Thai improved dramatically from the first round to the second, playing a big role in the Big Green posting its record-setting team score in a round. Tir shot a 6-over 77 during her first tour of the course and was 3-over on the front nine before catching fire on the back. A birdie on 10 and an eagle on 12, mixed in with seven pars, brought her back to even for the round and kept her at 6-over with a 148, climbing 11 spots into a tie for 17th.

Speaking of a tie for 17th, Thai closed out the day even with Tir, though she struggled with the wind early. Following a 79 (+8) in the morning round, she found a groove over the second 18 with 14 pars, only two bogeys and four birdies, including two consecutively on 17 and 18, to post the low score of the round with a 2-under 69 (one stroke shy of matching the school record).

Freshman Carolyn Chung had a solid collegiate debut, contributing a 5-over 76 to the team score in the first round with a pair of birdies to her credit before completing the 36 holes in a tie for 34th with a 154 (+12). Sophomore Hope Hall matched that two-round score, providing a 4-over 75 in the second round with two birdies of her own.

Boston University's Christy Chen claimed the top spot on the leaderboard carding back-to-back 70s for a 140 (-2) thanks to a tournament-best nine birdies on the day. Her lead is just a mere stroke ahead of Georgetown's Morgan Smith (68-73—141) while Princeton's Yanjun Liu is in third at 1-over par.

The tournament will conclude with the third round on Sunday with a shotgun start scheduled for 9 a.m.

Notes: The 591 is the sixth-lowest total for the Big Green after two rounds ever … Sung tied for the best showing on the par-3 holes with a collective 2-under par while Tir tied for the best total on par-5 holes at 1-under … junior co-captain Claire Xu was scheduled to participate as an individual but was unable to play.