The rain gear was out in full force last weekend at the Ivy League golf championships as mother nature proved too powerful for the Penn men and women's teams to overcome.
At Ballyowen Country Club, the men's strong second- and third-round performances were negated by first-round struggles; the Quakers finished in fourth place overall, just one stroke behind Brown.
Nearby, at Great Gorge Country Club, the conditions were so horrendous that the tournament was shortened from 36 to 27 holes, with the women also taking fourth.
"These were probably the worst conditions we've ever seen or played in," second-year men's coach Rob Powelson said.
In the first round at Ballyowen, poor weather lead to team scoring that was generally higher than during other rounds; Penn stumbled to a combined total of 316.
The team bounced back in the next two rounds, recording a 308 and a very impressive final round 295 as the conditions started to improve.
Powelson attributed some of the first-round difficulties to a few tough breaks, such as posting a nine on one hole and a triple-bogey on another.
"It wasn't for a lack of effort," he said.
Junior standout Sean Barrett fired a 73 on Sunday to earn All-Ivy honors for the second straight year, finishing in a tie for sixth overall.
In addition, sophomore Nick Ryder, a transfer from Division III Williams, carded a final-round 72, tying for 12th overall.
Senior Derek Rogers posted the third-best score for the Quakers to tie for 17th.
"The cards just didn't fall for us this tournament, but we've still had an amazing season, and we left with our heads high," Barrett said.
Despite its unfortunate finish, Penn's season included wins at the George Washington Invitational and the McDonald's Invitational at Yale. Furthermore, Rogers is the team's only graduating senior, and Powelson already has a good recruiting class lined up for next season -- including Chance Pipitone, who earned Rolex All-American honorable mention.
In the women's rain-shortened tournament, senior Kim Thompson ended her career on a high note, shooting a career-best 79 in the first round, earing first-team All-Ivy honors and finishing third overall.
Sophomore Meg Bender -- who tied for sixth overall -- also took home first-team All-Ivy honors, making it the first time that Penn had two women win that honor in the same season.
Yale won the team title, edging out Harvard and Princeton, which finished second and third.
On the whole, coach Francis Vaughn was "very happy" with the team's performance throughout the year and is "excited about using the success this season as a springboard for next year's team."
Given the weather problems associated with having the Ivies in the northeast, Powelson noted that the league might start to identify courses in a warm-weather climate to host the tournament. The Big East and the Atlantic-10 conferences have already taken this initiative.
"It would certainly be more enjoyable to play down in Florida," Barrett said.
Powelson added that the Ivy League coaches are "unified in coming up with solutions."
