Golf sets school record at S. John's Invitational

What a difference a day makes. After one day of competition at the St. John's Invitational, the Penn golf team found itself 11 strokes behind leader St. John's and, worse, one stroke behind its main Ivy League rival, Princeton. Coming off a team score of 298, the Quakers torched the Long Island, N.Y., course on Sunday, finishing the second round with a 283, the lowest score in Penn golf history. The record score gave the Quakers a 581 for the tournament, placing them second behind the host Red Storm and three strokes ahead of Princeton. "With Princeton beating us the first day, that added some incentive," Penn coach Francis Vaughn said. "There's definitely a rivalry there. The guys like to beat Princeton." With the victory over the Tigers, the Quakers have now defeated every Ivy opponent they have encountered this year, including defending conference champion Yale and Dartmouth, a solid contender this season. "It's getting to the point where we're pretty well-respected," said Rob Goldfaden, who led the Quakers with a personal-best third-place finish (71-71-142), two strokes behind the leaders. "When they see University of Pennsylvania in the field, they have to look out." For the first time this season, Penn placed four golfers in the top 13. Brian Owens finished seventh (77-68-145) and team captain Adam Bradshaw (77-70-147) and Kyle Moran (73-74-147) tied for 13th. Rounding out the scoring for the Quakers, Christopher Kyrle finished 35th with a cumulative score of 153 (79-74). "It was the first time the team played well together," Vaughn said. "All five scores [in the second round] were under 75." The record performance took an all-around team effort. Goldfaden set the pace for Penn, going four under par after six holes on Saturday. "I was happy with the way [I started]," said Goldfaden, a former American Junior Golf Association All-American. "It was a really important tournament. I wanted to do real well. I gave it everything I could, and what happened happened." "Rob's had a lot of good rounds, but this was the first time he went low and repeated it," Bradshaw said. "He really came through." In addition to Goldfaden, Owens and Moran also improved their games, following up top-10 performances two weekends ago at Army. "[Owens] has the ability to make that score all the time," Goldfaden said. "It's a confidence-builder for him and the rest of the team." "[Moran] is 'Mr. Consistency'," Bradshaw said. "You can always rely on him to come through with a good score." The rising of the supporting cast came at an opportune time for the Quakers, who played on the Bethpage Red Course, the site of the Ivy championships in the spring. "Adam's always shooting the best," Goldfaden said. "Here we see that everyone else can shoot the best. It takes some of the pressure off his shoulders." Bradshaw sees the support as a welcome, but mixed, blessing. "It's a relief, but in another way it's more pressure," he said. "I've waited three years to have my teammates beating me," Bradshaw said. "If you're not playing well, it's personally frustrating. I need to play well for it all to come together." The depth and success displayed at Bethpage bode well for the Quakers, who will need a repeat performance on the Red Course to win the Ivy crown.

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