W. Golf squad prepares for first-ever varsity completition

This fall, the daily 30-minute trek to and from the Philadelphia Cricket Club practice site has seemed a lot shorter for one group of commuters this year than it has in the past. That's because the members of the Penn women's golf team -- which has existed as a club team for several years -- now proudly travel to the facility knowing they are participating in a varsity sport. The history of women's golf at Penn does not take long to recount but its meteoric rise in the last few years merits attention. Female golfers did not even begin to play on any level at Penn until the mid-1990s and even then they mixed with the men's team, participating strictly on a club basis. Three factors in particular are responsible for advancing the status of the team to varsity -- a $250,000 donation from the Pappas family, a genuine interest among women on campus in the sport and a capable and well-respected coach willing to capitalize on the opportunity. The team will be coached by men's team coach Francis Vaughn, an excellent golfer in his own right who was once ranked the sixth best amateur in the country by Golf Digest. Vaughn said that there will be no more pressure on the team to succeed than there was when it was a club sport. He has set team goals in terms of enjoyment and progress rather than scores and said he expects this year's squad "to improve greatly from last year's team." Senior captain Natasha Miller shares this viewpoint and sees the shift to varsity as a completely positive experience. Whereas in the past there was a lesser sense of competition and fewer expectations, she said, "It feels like we're actually doing something now." With Miller, juniors Jen Schraut and Karen Pearlman, sophomore Victoria Entine and freshman Stacy Kress round out the 1999-2000 club. The four upperclassmen are all entering their second golf season, while Kress holds the distinction of being one of Penn's first women's golf recruits ever. The team expects Kress to be productive despite her young age. "The addition of Stacy will help our club immensely," Vaughn said. Indeed, the Baltimore native brings an impressive track record with her to Penn. She has previously participated in numerous junior and women's amateur tournaments. In addition, she won the Woodholme Country Club championship in her hometown the past two years, becoming the youngest woman ever to do so. An injury to a muscle near her ribcage sidelined Kress during the summer, but she is now healthy and ready to open the season at the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Conn., this weekend. Travel -- such as a 3 1/2-hour trip to New Haven -- is just one new aspect presented to freshmen athletes such as Kress. That is when Miller's leadership is best displayed. Kress explained that the captain is even more valuable off the course than on; Miller is willing to assist her with things such as deciding what classes to take and where to locate certain buildings. In fact, Miller's leadership extends so far that she is actually tutoring a player on the men's team who was having difficulty with a class. While Miller also attributed much of the women's team's successful chemistry to last year's captain Lindsay Stern, all the players share a great bond with their mentor. "I really think that Coach Vaughn has done an amazing job putting the team together since he's done it all by himself," Kress said.

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