With a two-day score of 616, the Penn's men's golf team finished 14th out of 23 teams at the Princeton Invitational this past weekend.
Princeton won the invitational with a score of 583.
"We wanted to play a little better, and the first day we put ourselves in a bad situation that we couldn't rebound from," Penn head coach Heath Davidson said. "We played a little better the second day, but the green showed some of the flaws we had in our chipping and putting."
Leading Penn and tying for 48th place with four other golfers were freshman Patrick Cooper and sophomore Derek Rogers.
Both Cooper and Rogers had a two-day score of 154. Cooper scored 78 and 76, while Rogers scored 76 and 78.
"We shot worse than our abilities and didn't take advantage of the course, because none of us really played up to our full potential," Cooper said.
Nonetheless, the Red and Blue are using the Princeton Invitational as a means to perfect their game before the Ivy League Championship this weekend.
"Over the spring season, everyone has played well at some time," Davidson said. "It's just a matter of getting it together at one time ... hopefully at the Ivies we'll get it together.
"The whole season is really geared toward the Ivy League Championship. We have the ability and talent, it's just a matter of putting it together over a 54-hole event."
Davidson cited Princeton and Columbia as Penn's main concerns at the Ancient Eight tournament.
The Quakers' main focus for the upcoming week will be to perfect their game, practicing on their shortcomings discovered at the Princeton Invitational.
"I feel like the reason I played poorly was that I lost focus at times," Cooper said.
"I'm going to work on going through my pre-shot routine, and I hope that helps me stay focused through the round at the Ivies," Cooper added.
Both the men's and women's golf teams will be competing in the Ivy League Championship, which will be held April 17-18 in Jackson, N.J.
Team scores: 1. Princeton, 583; 2. Towson, 587; 3. Georgetown, 590; 4. Temple, 591; 5. George Washington, 594; ... 14. PENN, 616
Individual scores:
1. Hurley, Navy, 68-71 -- 139 -3
48. Rogers, PENN, 76-78 -- 154 +12
48. Cooper, PENN, 78-76 -- 154 +12
