M. Golf struggles with rust, bad weather on spring trip

There was some sun but not much fun for the Penn men's golf team on its spring break trip to the South. The Quakers first traveled to West Palm Beach, Fla., where they played four consecutive days under friendly blue skies. Penn capped off its vacation in Greenville, N.C., where the Quakers encountered some rough times in some nasty weather at the East Carolina Invitational. "As a whole, we played pretty terribly," junior Todd Golditch said. On the first day of competition, the Quakers fared pretty well with a four-man total of 306. Kyle Moran fired the low round of two-over-par 74. Rising freshman star Chad Perman posted a 77, as did sophomore Trey Best. Mike Russell shot six-over 78, and Golditch posted a 79. There were certainly signs of rust as the Quakers played their first tournament since the fall. "It takes a while to get back into it," Golditch said. "I haven't played [competitively] since October. I played maybe once or twice over winter break." The tourney was supposed to be a 54-hole event, but Friday's morning 18 was canceled due to rain. On the final 18 holes on Saturday, Mother Nature showed her might by inflating the Quakers' scores. "It was 40 degrees and very windy," Golditch said. "It's hard to do well when your hands are red. You can't feel a thing, and you are wearing five layers of clothes." Golditch was right. His team shot a 322 on Saturday, 18 strokes worse than Friday. Perman shot the low round for the Quakers with a four-over 76. Moran posted a 78; Best and Golditch both shot 84; and Russell shot 85. Though Penn finished pretty far back in the field, the East Carolina Invitational is by no means a measuring stick for determining future performances. The Quakers were pitted against a very strong field with teams from different districts. Most of the teams from the South have played year-round and have already competed in several tournaments prior to the East Carolina Invitational. "It's difficult to compete against schools like Virginia Tech and Maryland," Golditch said. "The Southern schools are traditionally better golf schools." The Quakers will play next weekend at the George Washington Invitational in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Although Penn has never competed in this tournament, the Quakers' outlook is positive. "I think we can work out the kinks that haunted us at ECU," Moran said. "I think we will do really well this weekend. We will be competing against teams in our district who are in similar positions as we are." According to Moran, this spring break was important not only for gearing up for the season, but also for getting closer with his Penn teammates. "We had some strong new bonds develop between the upperclassmen and the freshmen," Moran said. "The team is all on the same page. We have the same goals for the season." Moran does believe that to some extent, golf is a team sport. He said he feels comfortable around his team and confident in its ability. "We can all go to each other for advice on our swing or course management," Moran said. "We are really all very good friends." The Quakers hope to ride their friendship and technical prowess to an Ivy League championship. This year marks the first year for the winner of the Ivies to continue on to the NCAA Championships.

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