For the women's golf team, 13 days is all it takes to finish the spring season.
The Quakers tee off at the Hoya Invitational today - just one week after their opener - for their last tournament before Ivy Championships.
"Several Ivy League schools competing so it will be a nice gauge for us to see where we are and what we've done with our spring break," coach Francis Vaughn said - although he said the same thing before last weekend's First Market Bank Invitational, at which his squad finished 17th out of 20.
Today's 14-team field includes Ivy foes Columbia, Princeton and Yale - the top three finishers at the Ivy Championships in 2007. At last year's Hoya Invitational, Penn placed sixth out of 13. Sophomore Meredith Kotowski tied with two others for the second best overall score of the tournament.
This year's invitational will be held at a new site, the Member Club at the Four Streams, in Beallsville, Md. The team traveled down to the Old Line State early yesterday to familiarize itself with the course.
The Hoyas have been practicing at Four Streams all season long, giving them an advantage over the other teams unfamiliar with the course. From the tips, it measures 7,100 yards.
Vaughn's players will have to be wary of the fourth and 18th holes. The former is a dogleg right par 5, with no margin for error for a slice or fade - the right side of the fairway is lined with bunkers.
The 18th hole is a dogleg left par 5, with a narrow landing area and a relatively small green.
The team will have to adjust its strategy on the fly.
"What we'll do is play eight holes and decide how we're going to play each of the holes," Vaughn said.
Penn's 17th place finish in Virginia was a lesson for everyone during practice this past week.
"Each player who played last week was able to uncover some facets of the game that they need to work on," said Vaughn. "We had quite a few good practices."
Senior Meg Bender's top priority was improving her putting while other women worked on their short games. And, according to Vaughn, everyone is driving the ball very well in practice.
"Hopefully, we'll do well," she said. "We're all swinging very well and making good contact with the ball."
