Golf takes lead and never looks back

Any golf pro will say that the follow-through is crucial. The Penn golf team followed through with its goals last weekend at the Army Invitational, winning the tournament on the heels of its second-place finish at the Cornell/Colgate Invitational a week ago. The Quakers played 36 holes Saturday, finishing six strokes ahead of the pack (601, 300-301). When play resumed with 18 more holes on Sunday, the Red and Blue shot a 309 to take the tournament by seven stokes over second-place finisher Central Connecticut State. Erratic weather provided an extra challenge for the Quakers. After 80-degree temperatures on Saturday, Sunday brought temperatures dipping into the 40s. "Even though we were ahead by six on Saturday, we didn't play as well Sunday," Penn coach Francis Vaughn said. "The scores sort of reflected [the change in temperature]. We were fortunate to have the lead that we did after two rounds." Individually, Adam Bradshaw (77-70-74, 221) and Brian Owens (72-74-78, 224) placed third and fourth, respectively. Regarding his top two finishers, Vaughn said, "That's why [Adam] is one of the top players in the district. Brian didn't play well in the first tournament. He just started hitting the ball better in practice and got his confidence up." Kyle Moran (77-77-77, 231) also finished in the top 10, placing eighth. Last weekend's victory came against a tougher field of teams than at Cornell/Colgate. The competition included Ivy rivals Columbia, Brown and Yale, in addition to other schools from the Northeast like Providence, Boston College and Holy Cross. After losing to Yale by one stroke in last year's Ivy finals, defeating several Ivy schools this weekend was a taste of revenge. "Playing at Cornell/Colgate was good preparation to play against a better field. We got all the kinks out," Vaughn said. According to Vaughn, rivalries did not need to be played up to inspire his team to victory. "The guys just go out there and play. They know how important every tournament is. I don't have to get them motivated to go play golf." The win at Army comes at an important point in the season for the Quakers, who travel to St. John's in two weeks to compete against their toughest field yet on the course which will hold the Ivy Championships later in the year. "[Other teams] know we have a good team and that they have to play well in order to compete with us," Vaughn said. "Confidence is the cornerstone of doing well in any athletic competition. Positive thinking won't let you do anything, but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will." After steadily improving results against steadily improving fields, the Quakers can't help but feel confident about their chances.

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