Hanover
Dartmouth has churned through 10 women’s golf coaches and never captured an Ivy title, but sixth-year boss Alex Kirk is nonetheless targeting such a crown. Junior Catharine Roddy last season became the team’s first All-Ivy honoree in 17 years, and Kirk said increased financial giving by the program’s former players is allowing the Big Green to expand travel and to be more competitive.
“I think we’re headed in the right direction,” said Kirk, who’s also the Hanover Country Club’s head pro. “We’re a tight-knit group, but we have to show up ready to play.”
Kirk said the team’s match stroke average was 325 when he took over, last in the Ivies. Last spring, it was at 309. He said Princeton is the circuit’s best program and regularly shoots close to 300.
That means, of course, that Dartmouth’s players are also scoring better individually, some averaging as low as 76 per round. The best marks were often at 79 or 80 five or six years ago, Kirk said. The roster has also shrunk from 11 or 12 players to eight.
“I’m not spread as thin, and I have more time to help each player individually,” the coach said. “In the past, I don’t think we spent enough time recruiting the higher-caliber players going to Harvard, Yale and Princeton. It’s a networking thing, and we have to use the Dartmouth name. I’ve identified those players a little better.
“There’s no reason we can’t move up in the standings. I think an Ivy championship is realistic.”
The obvious challenge for northern New England college golf is the weather, which rarely allows Dartmouth to play a home match in the spring. That means the golfers have to practice in Leverone Field House’s hitting bays, using computerized equipment to dissect and improve their game while some opponents are actually on the links.
“You have to find the right person who’s willing to do that,” Kirk said. “The player looking for education first, with a very competitive golf program, understands what the Ivies are about. If a player’s looking to play on the LPGA Tour, they might not be the right fit here.”
What about the recent news earlier this fall that Dartmouth’s administration is considering selling its golf course? Kirk scoffed at that possibility.
“I think those are just rumors, and they’re not going to happen,” he said. “There are definitely tons of questions about it, but I just think this is too valuable a resource, not only for golf, but for the community.”
An Ivy championship next spring certainly wouldn’t hurt the cause.
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.