Dartmouth Reinstates Golf Programs After Pressure Campaign; Hanover CC Still Set For Closure

Shuttered amid budget shortfalls and short-sighted thinking, Dartmouth has bowed to legal pressure over Title IX sexual discrimination and an alumni campaign to reinstate the sports ended last July.

The men’s and women’s golf teams are part of the announcement.

Not saved, at least as of now, is Hanover Country Club, the charming 121-year-old home course to the teams controlled by the university.

The news landed just a day after Global Golf Post’s Jim Nugent filed this opus on the saga that included some headscratching revelations.

More than 100 athletes were impacted. As many as 15 athletic department jobs were eliminated. At the time, Hanlon (Dartmouth Class of 1977) said these measures would save about $2 million.

As the weeks wore on and reality sank in, golf team members felt that that school was not being transparent, that the decision just didn’t add up. They were silent for months, working closely but quietly with an alumni group called Friends of Dartmouth Golf (FODG) to see if they could get the decision reversed in a non-confrontational way.

Even worse was an alumni package put together, as detailed in the story, to free the school of obligations while adding many perks for non-golf students. That was declined.

This was embarrassing but not shocking:

Elimination of the Dartmouth golf teams didn’t stop the school from squeezing every last dollar from alumni. The fiscal year ended on June 30. One golf alum was contacted six times in the month of June alone.

Nine days after the fiscal year ended, and after FODG had just completed its highest fund-raising effort in history, including financing for a new team van and upgraded indoor practice facilities, the eliminations were announced.

“They knew the programs were being shut down, but they continued to fundraiser. Unbelievable,” said one former player.

Alumni relations were not helped by the move…

Jake Gehret, class of 1981, donated to FODG for the six-figure van. It was delivered last March. But the golf teams never got to use it due to COVID-19. Gehret has not heard from anyone about the fate of the van. No one in FODG knows about its whereabouts or usage.

A significant contributor to Dartmouth through the years, Gehret cut all ties to the school.

And this is the capper:

The FODG calculated that the operating costs for both teams added up to $350,000 annually. Seventy-one percent of that came from alumni contributions, including the coaches’ salaries. The remaining $100,000 came from the school.

Hopefully next up on the to do list: somehow saving at least part of Hanover CC as a team and community asset.