Kaitlyn Lees, winner of the Pennsylvania Junior Girls’
Championship three of the last four years, finished tied for 10th in
her college debut this weekend for Dartmouth, which hosted the Dartmouth
Invitational at Hanover Country Club in Hanover, N.H.
Lees, who won three Inter-Ac League individual titles at
Agnes Irwin, started off with a 1-over-par 73 in Saturday’s opening round over
the 5,826-yard, par-72 Hanover layout. Lees, who plays out of Philadelphia
Country Club and Merion Golf Club, added a 2-over 74 Sunday to get a top-10
finish at 3-over 147.
Lees helped the Big Green finish third in the team standings
as they opened with a 10-over 298 before adding a 300 in Sunday’s final round
for a 22-over 298 total.
Albany, the reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
champion, captured the team title as the Great Danes posted a team-record
1-over 289 in the opening round and added a solid 3-over 291 in Sunday’s final
round for a 4-over 580 total.
Harvard, a perennial Ivy League contender, was the runnerup
as the Crimson opened with a 296 and added a 290 that was the low team round
Sunday for a 10-over 586 total.
Hartford finished a shot behind Dartmouth in fourth at 599
after adding a 299 to its opening-round 300. Albany’s cross-town rival Siena
took fifth in the 15-team field at 605. The Saints opened with a 298 before
falling back a little with a 307 in Sunday’s final round.
Madison Walker, a freshman from Bermuda Dunes, Calif., led the
way for Albany as she was the runnerup in the individual standings with a
5-under 139 that left her two shots behind individual champion Ami
Gianchandini, a freshman at Yale out of Short Hills, N.J. and The Pingry
School. Walker opened with a 3-under 69 and added a 2-under 70 in Sunday’s
final round.
Megan Henry, a junior from England, finished alone in fifth
at 1-under 143. Henry opened with a program-record 4-under 68 before backing
off with a 75. Helga Einarsdottir, a junior from Iceland, gave the Great Danes
a third top-six finisher as she got a piece of sixth place with an even-par 144
total. Einarsdottir improved off an opening-round 74 with a 2-under 70 in
Sunday’s final round.
Caroline Juillat, a junior from France, finished in the
group tied for 34th at 154 as she added a 76 to her opening-round
78. Pasquali Tartaglione, a freshman from Pine Bush, N.Y., was a shot behind
Juillat in the group tied for 37th at 155. Tartaglione opened with a
78 before posting a final-round 77.
Annika Espino, a junior from Honolulu, Hawaii, finished
among the group tied for 49th at 158 as she added a 77 to her
opening-round 81. Can’t tell which five comprised the starting lineup for
Albany or if the Dartmouth Invitational allowed team to score the top four from
six players as opposed to the usual five.
Lees is just one of the talented freshmen who be shaking
things up in the Ivy League this season.
Gianchandini fired a startling 6-under 66 in Sunday’s final
round after opening with a 1-under 71 to account for her 7-under 137 total.
Two summers ago Gianchandini stunned Patty Tavatanakit,
1-up, in the round of 16 in the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship at
Boone Valley Golf Club in Augusta, Mo. Tavatanakit, a native of Thailand,
begins her sophomore season at UCLA as the No. 8 player in the Women’s World
Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Harvard freshman Elizabeth Wang of San Marino, Calif., who
finished tied for third at 3-under 141 in the Dartmouth Invitational, did
Gianchandini one better at last month’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Golf Club
of Tennessee. Wang stunned the No. 1 player in the Women’s WAGR, Wake Forest
senior and reigning NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho, in the opening round of
match play.
It took 20 holes for Big Ten champion Jaclyn Lee, a senior
at Ohio State from Canada, to take out Wang in the round of 16 at the Golf Club
of Tennessee.
Wang opened with a 3-under 69 before adding an even-par 72
in Sunday’s final round.
Wang shared third place with Siena’s Sara Riso, a senior
from Hamburg, N.Y. who seized the opening-round lead with a sparkling 6-under
66 before backing off with a 3-over 75 in Sunday's final round.
Another Yale freshman, Coco Chai of China, shared sixth
place with Albany’s Einarsdottir at even-par 144. Chai added a 1-under 71 to her
opening-round 73.
Backing up Lees for Dartmouth was another freshman, Kristen
Chen of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Kristin Soh, a junior from Los Angeles, both
of whom ended up in the group tied for 14th at 5-over 149. Chen
added a 75 to her opening-round 74 and Soh opened with a 1-over 73 before
finishing up with a 76.
Dartmouth’s senior leader, Catharine Roddy of Trabuco,
Calif., gave the Big Green a fourth top-20 finisher as she finished in the
group tied for 20th at 150. Roddy matched Lees for Dartmouth’s low
round in Sunday’s wrapup with a 2-over 74 after she opened with a 76.
Rounding out the Dartmouth lineup was Julianne Strauch, a
sophomore from Advance, N.C. who joined the group tied for 25th at
152 after she carded a pair of 76s.
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