M. Golf heads for GW Invitational

Penn will be making its first appearance in the tournament. The Penn men's golf team will travel to Issue, Md., this weekend to compete in the second annual George Washington Invitational at the Swan Point Yacht and Country Club. The tournament -- which will take place on Sunday and Monday -- is one of the largest intercollegiate golf events on the East Coast with more than 140 golfers from 27 colleges and universities, including two squads from the host Colonials. Last year's invitational was won by American with a 50-over-par 626, seven strokes ahead of runner-up Maryland-Baltimore County and 13 strokes ahead of third-place Hampton. After a successful fall season and a productive spring break, the Quakers are looking forward to getting back into action against other schools in their district. Although Penn has never competed in this tournament, the Quakers' outlook is positive. "I expect to win, and the rest of the team does, too," junior Todd Golditch said. "We go into every tournament expecting to win, and there's no reason why we can't win [this weekend]." "Every week we try to win, and I think [this weekend] it'll come out well," Penn freshman Chad Perman added. Over spring break, the Quakers competed in the East Carolina Invitational in Greenville, N.C. Even though their 21st-place finish was well back in the field and something of a disappointment for the Red and Blue, the Quakers were pitted against very strong competition with teams from different districts. A good showing this weekend will bode well for the team's confidence, especially after stumbling a bit at East Carolina. The field at this weekend's tournament should be more representative of the Quakers' typical District II competition and virtually free of the Southern powerhouses that they saw over spring break. "I think we can work out the kinks that haunted us at ECU," junior Kyle Moran said. "I think we will do really well this weekend. We will be competing against teams in our district who are in similar positions as we are." At any rate, the team feels confident about its ability to bounce back from a rough showing at East Carolina. "Now that we've gotten a tournament under our belts, as well as some practice in better weather, we feel more comfortable with our chances [of winning]," Perman said. This weekend's tournament should be a good warmup for the Navy Spring Invitational and the Ivy League Championships, both set to take place later in April. The Ivy Championships are especially important because this marks the first year that the winner of the Ivies will move on to the NCAA Championships. If the Quakers are to take advantage of this opportunity, they will need to start showing marked progress this weekend at GW.

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