Following its first tournament win in program history at the Lehigh Fall Invitational, the Penn women's golf team could not have been more excited for last weekend's Princeton Fall Invitational.
"The ladies were very confident following Lehigh," Penn coach Francis Vaughn said. "That tournament was very exciting. In the days prior to Princeton, the players were training very hard and feeling really good about their golf games."
Although the Red and Blue did not capture first place at Princeton, they did finish an impressive fifth place among a field of 15 quality teams. The only teams to place ahead of Penn were Yale, Georgetown and two separate teams from Princeton.
The Quakers shot a 655 (328, 327) for a +79, and were led by senior Melissa Aylor. Aylor finished the two-day tournament tied for seventh place by shooting a 157 (78, 79) ending at 13 over par. She has been a consistent leader by example for the Red and Blue.
"Melissa is a role model for the rest of the team. She leads by example and handles herself very well both on and off the golf course. She has most definitely been a pleasure to have on the team the last few years," Vaughn said.
Penn freshman Meg Bender also performed well this past weekend. She shot a 165 (80, 85) for a +21 and earned herself a tie for 20th place. Bender has impressed Vaughn so far this season with her play, and the Penn coach has high hopes for her continued improvement.
"Meg has done extremely well this season. She is a talented young player. I know that she will only improve over time as she gets used to Penn, to becoming a student-athlete and becomes more acclimated to collegiate competition," Vaughn said.
Penn junior Kim Thompson was another strong finisher for the Quakers. She shot a 166 (86, 80) for a +22 overall.
Given the Quakers' remarkable performances the last two weekends, Vaughn is rightfully optimistic about how they will go into their next tournament. Penn will compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament on Oct. 9-10.
"As a team, we feel really good about the remainder of the season," Vaughn said. "Each player will reassess her game and will work on the different things she needs to do to improve. We were very happy with the Princeton Invitational and will continue to train hard over the next few weeks as we prepare for our next tournament."
