M. Golf wins Invite with its first-ever under-par finish

This past weekend, the Penn men's golf team captured the Georgetown Hoya Invitational. And if that weren't enough, the Quakers finished under par as a team for the first time in the history of Penn golf. This was no small feat for the Quakers, who shot a three-over 291 on Saturday and a five-under 283 on Sunday. Navy, the runner-up in the tourney, finished 11 shots back. That's right, 11 shots back. After round one, Penn found itself trailing by one shot behind a strong James Madison team. Also in round one, Penn junior Todd Golditch recorded a four-under-par 68, two strokes better than his nearest competitor. Not far off the pace were Kyle Moran (even-par 72) and Rob Hunt (two-over 74). Chad Perman shot a five-over 77, as did captain Rob Goldfaden. On day two, according to Hunt, the Quakers "blew everybody away. Collectively, we shot some of the best golf ever? It was awesome." Moran led the charge with a second-day total of 70. Both Perman and Hunt matched Moran's score of two-under, while Goldfaden posted a one-over 73. Golditch, leader in the clubhouse after day one, experienced some difficulties on the second day and shot a seven-over 79. He finished five shots behind co-leaders Moran and Seton Hall's Eugene Smith. Golditch, who played flawlessly in round one, incurred two mysterious injuries after the first day of competition. While walking off the 18th green, Golditch noticed that two of his fingers stuck together. One of his fingers was clearly misshapen. Goldfaden's father, a doctor, diagnosed Golditch with a hyperextended finger. Later, while Golditch was viewing a football game, he injured his foot. Apparently, he was jumping up and down, excited to see his team performing well. During his display of exuberance, he landed barefoot on a belt buckle. These two injuries were enough to throw the first round leader off his game. Fortunately for Penn, Moran picked up the slack. Moran and Smith engaged in a playoff to break the tie for first. Moran stepped to the tee of the short, downhill par-4 17th hole. The Seton Hall golfer drilled a one-iron into the middle of the fairway. Moran hit a three-wood, which came to rest a few yards behind his competitor's shot. Knowing full well that his competitor would aim for the pin on his approach shot, Moran elected to fire at the pin as well. Moran's approach hit once on the green and took a leftward bounce into the greenside bunker. Smith, playing after Moran, stuck his approach shot tight. Moran proceeded to hit an errant bunker shot. He was then forced to drain a putt for par in hopes of extending the playoff. Moran missed his putt and then watched his competitor two-putt for the victory. Moran was ecstatic even though he failed to capture the individual title. "Nothing could have spoiled the win and the way the team played," Moran said. "I was happy to play well as an individual but I was even happier to beat the high-quality teams which we played against by such a large margin." Moran's runner-up finish capped a very special tournament for the Quakers. While the victory was meaningful as it came over a competitive field, the weekend was clearly highlighted by the first team under-par finish in Penn history.