Coming off a close loss over spring break, the Penn men's golf team is looking for a second chance to prove itself worthy of another Ivy League title.
Tomorrow the Quakers play their second match of the spring season. Five players will travel to Bethany Beach, Del. to compete against opponents from 19 other schools in the George Washington Invitational.
The Quakers won the event the past two seasons, but this year's team is very different from the 2007 squad.
However, head coach Francis Vaughn is not worried.
Vaughn explained that the team's closeness this year is something last year's group didn't have.
"With a smaller team we've actually been able to get to know each other better," he said.
But camaraderie does not guarantee a Penn victory.
With only two starters returning - senior captain Dean Merrill and junior Michael Blodgett - winning will certainly be a challenge.
Joining Merrill and Blodgett are senior Michael Kornheiser, junior Brett Rendina, and freshman Kevin Huntington. None of the trio is familiar with the course in Bethany Beach.
However, Vaughn is confident his more experienced players will help their teammates manage the course.
"Dean and Michael, they'll have very good memories of this tournament," he said. "They'll help the others understand how to position the ball."
Neither Merrill nor Vaughn believes the team feels pressure to win the match a third time. In fact, they didn't even realize their team's past success in the event.
"I doubt that the players know they've won two years in a row," said Vaughn. "They're just going out there to do the best they can do."
With younger players like Huntington stepping up to the plate, the Quakers hope that they won't skip a beat this year. Although the team lost by only three shots in their first match versus UC San Diego over spring break, Huntington tied for Penn's best score.
"He certainly earned the right to play," Vaughn said.
Vaughn also noted that the team's spring break trip to California helped prepare the Quakers for spring play and might give them a leg up.
"I don't know how many other teams had the chance to take a spring break trip," he said.
That doesn't mean easy competition will await the Quakers. But Vaughn seemed more focused on his own team.
"It is a game of who makes the fewest mistakes," he said. "The team who makes the fewest mistakes usually wins."
