M. Golf shows rust at Lehigh Invitational

The Quakers placed fourth out of four teams after not having competed since September 19. The Penn men's golf team finished fourth out of four teams at the Lehigh Invitational in Center Valley, Pa., last weekend. The Quakers posted a two-day total of 606. Junior Kyle Moran led the squad by firing a 73 on Saturday and a 74 on Sunday. That was good enough to earn a sixth-place finish in the individual contest. The rest of the team, however, failed to play up to par. "We weren't fully prepared. We hadn't competed in three weeks, so we were a little rusty," senior captain Rob Goldfaden said. "We also hadn't practiced much." In the first round of the competition Moran shot a one-over-par 73, Rob Hunt and Rob Goldfaden each scored 75, Chad Perman posted an 81 and Todd Golditch finished with an 82 to give the Quakers a first-day total of 302. "After the first round, we put added pressure on ourselves to play well in the second round," Goldfaden said. Unfortunately for the team, that success never materialized. The Quakers finished two strokes worse on Sunday. The eventual winner of the tournament was Rutgers, which shot a 286 on the first day and a 290 on the second day for a 576, 15 strokes ahead of second-place Villanova. Although the Scarlet Knights played well, the Red and Blue had their chances to win. According to Goldfaden, "the course was playing fairly easy. The tees were up, which made the course play very short. In addition, most of the pins were pretty accessible." "Nothing really clicked," Golditch said. "Yet, this shouldn't affect next week's tourney." In the coming weekend, the Quakers will be playing in the James Madison Invitational, where they will square off against a strong field comprised of many of the top teams in Penn's district. The format of the JMU Invitational differs from the other tournaments the team played this fall in that it is a 54-hole event. The Quakers will play 36 holes on Saturday and 18 holes on Sunday. Penn coach Francis Vaughn is making one line-up change before the tournament. He is sending freshman Endel Lias to play in Rob Hunt's stead. The team will be having its last practice today before leaving tonight for Harrisonburg, Va. The Quakers will then play a practice round on Friday. According to Goldfaden, this tournament -- the last one of the fall season for Penn -- has great importance for the Quakers. "It would be fantastic [if we played well]," he said. "It would give us a boost for the spring season."