Penn sophomore golfer Derek Rogers is no stranger to the U.S. Naval Academy Golf Course.
He played at the Annapolis, Md., links just last spring.
But thanks to heavy rains, courtesy of the approaching Hurricane Isabel, when Rogers returned to the course for the Navy Fall Invitational this weekend, it was like he was playing on a completely different course.
"What was normally a short course played very, very long," Rogers said. "I was the only one to play the course before, and I couldn't describe it to the other guys because of the wet conditions."
The Quakers played through the soggy conditions, however, shooting a combined 595 -- 26 shots over par -- to finish tied for 10th out of 14 teams.
Despite falling to the winner Georgetown by 30 strokes, the Quakers were impressed by their showing, especially with three new faces in the starting lineup -- freshmen Patrick Cooper and Sean Barrett and junior transfer Larry Nickell.
"I thought it was great," Rogers said. "All three newcomers had great showings."
Despite recently joining the Quakers, Nickell -- who comes to Penn from Austin College in Sherman, Texas -- shot the lowest score of the tourney for Penn, a combined 146 (73, 73).
Nickell finished the Invitational with the 18th best overall individual score.
"We were very pleased with how he started his career at Penn," coach Heath Davidson said.
Rogers shot the best round of the day for the Quakers, a second-round 72, to finish 25th overall with a combined 148.
The freshmen duo of Barrett and Cooper shot a 150 (75, 75) and a 156 (79, 77), respectively.
"To go out there and be competitive from day one is very good for this program," Davidson said of Barrett.
Davidson also noted he was impressed by Cooper's final nine holes on Sunday.
Sophomore Scott Squires was the fifth starter of the day, tallying 151 strokes to finish in 40th place overall.
The Hoyas were the only team to shoot under par (-3), finishing 14 strokes ahead of second-place Towson and 19 ahead of third-place George Washington.
Navy senior Billy Hurley -- who recently reached the round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur -- set a course record with a 10-under par 61 to win the individual title, shooting a combined 130. The previous record was a 65, set by Seton Hall's Scott Hawley in 1999.
"It was great golf," Davidson said. "It was fun to watch. A lot of great players have come through that course, so if you can play that well, it's very impressive."
While Barrett finished 35th and Cooper 55th, Rogers was extremely impressed by the freshmen's ability to make the transition from high school to college golf with such ease.
"In your first college tournament, it's a little difficult to get adjusted," he said. "It's very different from high school. It's more team based than it is in high school."
With this new experience, the team is confident that it will improve. This is evident from the team's seven stroke improvement after the first round.
"I think we're going to only get better," Rogers said.
