As the men's golf team starts its 2008 fall campaign this weekend, there will be some fresh faces for the Quakers. They travel to Annapolis, Md., to compete in the Navy Fall Invitational and its par-71 USNA Golf Course.
First, the team lost captain Dean Merrill to graduation; he's currently looking to compete at the professional level.
Of course, graduation affects teams every year, so the more significant change is the new man holding the coaching reins.
Scott Allen joined the Penn program in August after leaving George Washington.
"[The players are] happy that I come in with fresh eyes and everyone gets a chance to sort of start from scratch," Allen said.
Despite leading the Quakers for less than two months, Allen is not unfamiliar with his new players.
"GW and Penn were probably in the same tournaments about four or five times last year," he said. "A couple of the guys on the team I recruited pretty heavily at GW. So I had a pretty good picture about the guys."
After this weekend, Allen will have a better idea of the squad's makeup. Five Penn players will face a competitive field of 16 other teams. The title is up for grabs; since the tournament's inauguration, 11 different teams have won the trophy. Last year, North Carolina State took first place.
"I think we've got an excellent chance to have a strong finish here," Allen said. "It's a good field of similar schools from the Northeast."
His starting five will consist of one freshman and four upperclassmen, including senior captain Michael Blodgett, the only one with experience at the tournament.
Blodgett, who last year became Penn's first individual Ivy League champion, competed at the Invitational in 2006 when the team tied for second with Winthrop University, coming in only two strokes behind first-place Loyola (Md.). Last fall, the Red and Blue did not compete at Annapolis.
Seniors Clint Dewey, Bill McCrossan and Brett Rendina will join Blodgett on the trip, the first time that all four seniors will compete together on the road.
Newcomer Ben Cohen will also contribute to the team's final score, and sophomore Ross Merrill will compete only as an individual. (His score will not affect the Quakers' overall performance.)
Allen noted that the course is similar to Penn's one at home, the Philadelphia Cricket Club. Yet it does have its own nuances.
"The greens here are the one thing that sticks out," Allen said. "They're traditionally very fast and they have a lot of slope to them, a lot of undulation, so they can be tricky."
