For the second year in a row, the Penn men's golf team placed second at the Ivy League Championships, this past weekend.
With a three-day total of 942 (319, 315, 308), the Quakers placed behind Princeton, which finished with a three-day score of 925 at the event held in Jackson, N.J.
Penn sophomore Derek Rogers and junior Larry Nickell tied for seventh place, each earning All-Ivy honors and totaling a three-day score of 233. Rogers shot a 80, 79, 74 and Nickell shot a 79, 82 and an even par 72 on the third day
Freshman Sean Barrett placed 10th with a three-day score of 234 (80, 73, 81).
After the first round, the men were ranked fifth in the championship.
"It was a challenging and punishing course," Nickell said. "You had to play well, and if not, you were punished."
According to Penn head coach Heath Davidson, on the second and third days of the championship the men "began making putts, their short game got better and they became more familiar with the course."
"For the last round I got some tips from my dad, and I started hitting the ball better than I have been all spring," Rogers said.
Although the Quakers' season "was cut a little short," Rogers said, "a positive is that [the Quakers] have a really young team, so next year [they] will be harder to beat."
The obvious team goal for next year's season is for the Red and Blue to win the Ivies.
"I'm really excited to keep playing with the guys and keep improving," Nickell said. "There's no where to go but up, it should be really exciting next year."
After losing three seniors from last year's team, "It is difficult to come back," Davidson said. "But this team has a lot of heart, a great work ethic and good hope for the future."
While golf is very much an independent sport, "This is a team sport and first and foremost is the team and how the team does," Rogers said.
"I'd be much more happy to win as a team than as an individual, although the two sometimes comes hand-in-hand."
"Of course we're disappointed we didn't win," Davidson said. "But I'm so proud of the men, they grinded it out to the end and showed a good third round.
"Our team has lots of character and will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future."
Also competing at its respective Ivy League Championships was the women's golf team. Its event was held in Trenton, N.J., this past weekend.
The Penn women finished fifth, with a three-day total of 1040 (342, 349, 349).
The top Penn finisher at the event was sophomore Melissa Aylor, who tied with Columbia's Esther Gweon for eighth place with a three-day total of 245 (79, 78, 88).
