M. Golf hopes to build upon fall success

Last fall, the Penn men's golf team accomplished something that it has never done in team history -- the Quakers finished a tournament under par. That weekend, the squad captured the Georgetown Hoya Invitational by shooting two-under-par, winning by 11 shots over runner-up Navy. "Collectively, we shot some of the best golf ever?. It was awesome," Penn senior Rob Hunt said. After coming off a strong fall season, the Quakers enter this spring season with plenty of optimism. "The fall season was successful," Penn senior captain Rob Goldfaden said. "Georgetown [Invitational] showed that we are cable of competing with anybody. It showed that we had a talented team." The only complaint that Penn coach Francis Vaughn might have with his team was its lack of consistency in the fall. "We weren't quite consistent," Goldfaden said. "We had some good tournaments, some OK tournaments, but luckily no bad tournaments." Goldfaden went on to say that there was nothing specific that the team had to work on, but a wining formula will need to feature hard work and practice. "We should win the Ivy League Championships if we practice real hard," Goldfaden said. "There are guys on the team who have been practicing on their own in the offseason." After taking the frigid winter off, the squad will play six tournaments in the spring, including the Ivy League Championships in the middle of its season on the weekend of April 15 and 16. The Quakers will commence play over spring break as Vaughn has planned a trip to Palm Beach, Fla., for his team. Penn will probably get a chance to play at the esteemed West Palm Beach Country Club and Emerald Dunes golf courses. "It won't take long to get back into form. We know what it's like to take the winter off. We'll be ready," Goldfaden said. After playing a few rounds of golf next week, the team will start tournament play at the East Carolina Invitational on March 16-18.

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