Bucknell Invite next for Golf

The Penn golf team is ready to rise to its expectations at the Quakers' second tournament of the fall, the Bucknell Invitational in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. While not as strong a field as the Yale Invite, Bucknell's field is comprised of 16 teams, mostly hailing from the East Coast. "There are a couple of good teams from the region, mainly Delaware and Cornell," coach Francis Vaughn said. Vaughn will send six golfers to Bucknell, a two-day tournament, with the top four scores each day counting towards the Quakers' total. Three of Penn's golfers have already been decided -- senior captain Justin Cotler, junior Adam Bradshaw and freshman Rob Goldfaden. Coach Vaughn will make a decision on the last three spots based on qualifying in the week's final practice. Bucknell's golf course should prove a different challenge than last week's course. Much shorter than both Yale's course and the Philadelphia Cricket Club, Penn's home course, accuracy should prove more valuable than distance this weekend. "Bucknell is a tight golf course, with many tree-lined fairways, a golfer must drive well," Vaughn said. "The course is not very long, a player who drives well will have the potential to score well." While the Quakers did not fare as well as hoped in their season debut -- finishing tied for 2Oth out of 36 teams -- Vaughn feels Penn will show signs of improvement at Bucknell. "I think after playing our first tournament, the guys are now ready," Vaughn said. "We were a little rusty last weekend, but now since the guys have settled into their routines here at school, we should fare better." In addition, Vaughn feels the lack of pressure will aid the Quakers. Unlike the Yale Invite in which the Quakers faced top-25 ranked Kentucky, there are no national powerhouses in the Bucknell field. "I think they were just trying to hard," Vaughn said. "They knew they had an opportunity to beat a top-25 team, and they therefore put a little extra pressure on themselves." With another week of practice under their belts, the Quakers look to improve on last week's middle-of-the-pack finish and lead the field at Bucknell.