Golf not up to par at Yale Invite

Despite an unsatisfyingDespite an unsatisfying20th-place finish, PennDespite an unsatisfying20th-place finish, Pennshows improvement The fall golf season got under way this past weekend at the Yale Invitational. While Penn did well enough in early action to qualify for Sunday's final day of competition, the Quakers ended up tied for 20th in the 36-team field. National powerhouse Kentucky came away victorious. Although Penn was not completely satisfied with its performance, the Quakers demonstrated noticeable improvement from their last trip to Yale. They improved 23 shots from their last visit to the tournament, finishing 116 over par as a team. That was an improvement of more than five shots per golfer. Penn was led by senior captain Justin Cotler, who finished tied for 39th out of 178 golfers. "While our performance was not as great as we had hoped, our improvement over last year was noticeable," Quakers sophomore Brian Owens said. Overall, the scores may have been inflated due to the poor weather on Friday. Golf, a sport often at the whim of mother nature, is made increasingly more difficult as conditions worsen. The constant rain raised the scores across the field. "Scores were poor tournament wide," Penn coach Francis Vaughn said. "This is the strongest field we will play in all year, a lot of good teams from all over the country were here." In fact, even the eventual champion Wildcats finished a none-too-spectacular 59 over par. Only one player in the entire field broke par in any given round. Penn, which had a late tee off time on Friday, was hurt more by mother nature than those who got off first. "The first day the weather conditions enabled the teams who teed off early to complete their rounds rain free," Owens said. "The Yale golf course is not a very long course, but demands very accurate shots. With their large greens, accurate second shots are a must to prevent three-putting." Although Penn's effort last weekend did not yield the expected results, the Quakers are ready to prepare to play up to their potential next weekend at Bucknell. Penn hopes better weather and the fact that the Quakers, as Vaughn said, "are now tournament ready" will assist them in future endeavors.