M. Golf eager for Ivy league tournament

For three years in a row, the Penn men's golf team has lost to archrival Princeton by nine shots at the Ivy League Championship Golf Tournament.

This weekend, the Quakers will once again attempt to break the unnerving and frustrating losing streak when they head to Mattitock National golf course in Jackson, N.J.

The Red and Blue are expecting a challenging weekend from Mattitock.

"I think it suits my game very well. It's long and there are a lot of elevated greens," Penn senior captain Mike Russell said. "It suits a lot of other players on our team well.

"As far as I'm concerned, I'm worried about the way I am driving the ball off the tee. If you hit your drives crooked Mattitock can punish you."

However, the Quakers are less concerned with the course and are instead focusing their efforts on the competition that they will face this weekend.

After finishing second so many times, the Red and Blue are more than ready to prove to the Ancient Eight that they are tough enough to beat the Tigers.

"We only have one goal -- and that's to win. There aren't any moral goals to finish second," Perman said. "We've geared our season around the Ivies this is what it is all about."

Penn has been focusing its efforts this spring solely on the Ivy League Championships. The squad is determined to not let history repeat itself.

"There's only one place," Russell said. "Everybody always remembers the winner. Three years in a row we've lost by nine shots. We've been working all year to shave those last nine shots so that we can move up a place."

But that goal may be difficult to achieve.

The Quakers' season thus far has been somewhat rocky.

The first tournament on the spring schedule at East Carolina University turned out to be a dismal showing for the Red and Blue. The squad finished 24th out of 25 teams.

Then, last weekend, the Quakers finished in the eight position with a final score of 592 at the Princeton Invitational. The Tigers finished in fourth place with an overall tally of 569 -- 23 shots ahead of the Red and Blue.

Princeton is led by sophomore Jon Nuger, who shot a blistering 66 in the second round of the Tigers' Invite last weekend. Nuger finished the two-day event in seventh place.

Despite the loss, Penn is choosing to forget last weekend.

"Golf is a new game every week," Russell said. "It doesn't give them any specific advantage."

As well as wanting to snap the long-standing losing streak, Penn is also looking to claim the NCAA tournament bid on the line this weekend. Whichever team claims the Ivy title will head to the East Region NCAA tournament in Roswell, Georgia.

"For pride reasons you want to beat [Princeton]," Perman said. "And everybody wants to get their shot at the NCAAs."

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