M. Golf tumbles at Penn State Invite

Not everybody who went to Happy Valley this weekend to participate in the 25th Annual Rutherford Intercollegiate Golf Tournament left with a smiling face. Just ask the Penn men's golf team. The Quakers stood in fourth place after two great rounds, but finished weak, falling to 10th out of 15 teams by the weekend's end. The Quakers shot a three-round total of 902, which included a 296 in the second round. Penn State, the host school, won the event with a score of 863, a tournament record. "We were pretty disappointed," Penn sophomore Chad Perman said. "But that's the way it goes." Penn sophomore Endel Liias felt that the Quakers simply didn't meet expectations. "We really expected to finish better," Liias said. "Yesterday we played poorly, things didn't click." Liias believed that, on the whole, the Quakers played pretty well this season, but that things just didn't fall into place at the right time. "We never came together as a team on any given day to post four good scores," Liias said. On the upside, senior Kyle Moran finished in sixth place overall in his final regular-season collegiate match. He led the Quakers with a three-round total of 217, shooting 72-72-73. Moran finished just four strokes behind the winner. Liias and Mike Russell each fired a three-round total of 230. Perman finished three shots behind them, and Todd Golditch ended two shots behind Perman at 235. The Quakers played their best golf in the first two rounds of the event, on the inclement day of the two-day tournament. As the temperature rose on Sunday, so did the team's scores. Despite a weak finish, the squad did not brood after their performance. "We came away with nothing negative," Liias said. "This season we learned a lot about dedication." Liias also said that the poor finish this weekend "makes you work harder" in order to reach future goals. This year, the Quakers will lose graduating senior co-captains Moran and Golditch, whose leadership will be missed as the Quakers look to improve next year.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.