W. Golf lands in ninth at Rutgers

In what might have been its last tournament of the fall campaign, the Penn women's golf team failed to break its own two-day school record at the Rutgers Invitational this past Friday and Saturday. Given the Quakers' recent string of broken school records, this finish might be viewed as a disappointment. To the Red and Blue, however, this weekend was just as rewarding as were the previous two record-breaking ones. "We certainly continued on the successes of the previous two weeks," Penn coach Francis Vaughn said. "Although we didn't break a school record, we finished under 700 for the second straight week and played very well." Penn's score of 697 placed them ninth out of the 16 squads swinging in New Brunswick, N.J., this weekend. Now the Quakers anxiously wait to see if they receive an invitation to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships. Unfortunately, the future of the team's season may rest not just on an invitation to the ECACs, but also on the scheduling of the championships. Unofficial sources have suggested that the championship tournament may be moved from its originally scheduled dates of Saturday, October 21 and Sunday, October 22 to the following Monday and Tuesday. This schedule change would not only preclude Penn from attending the tournament, but all Ivies invited to the championships would be forced to decline the invitation due to the conflicts with class time. Nevertheless, Vaughn feels that the team's chances of receiving an invitation to the championships are pretty good. "Looking at last year's field, we've beaten many teams that were there last year, which I think should put us in good shape for an invitation this year," Vaughn said. The Quakers realize that even if they are not invited to the ECACs, the fall season was a definite success. "I was very satisfied with how we played this year," Vaughn said. "The girls have done a great job, and their scores and finishes speak for themselves." Vaughn also lauded his first-year golfers for their continuous improvement throughout the season. "The freshmen improved a great deal over the course of a season," Vaughn said. "Each freshman became acclimated to college golf." "They learned how to play golf as a team sport and how to play the full 18 holes. Also, they learned to concentrate and manage their games over a round." Penn freshman Valerie Wong was similarly satisfied with the Quakers' play this year. "We did really well from the first tournament to the last," Wong said. "And by last year's standards, we improved tremendously." To the Quakers, an invitation to the ECACs would be very rewarding. But given all the success that the Red and Blue have already achieved on the links this fall, an ECAC invitation would be really just be icing on the cake.

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