Quakers expand borders

During his stint at George Washington University, current Penn golf coach Scott Allen earned a reputation as an international recruiter.

This year, Allen has begun to pave the way for a new era of Quakers golf, starting with the recruitment of Francesco Melpignano.

Melpignano, who grew up in Fasano, Italy, but attended high school at the American School of London, sought out Allen and Penn golf. The coach explained that the Italian had a “natural connection” to the school because his brother earned a master’s degree from Wharton.

And Melpignano, like many international golfers, has always dreamt of playing in the NCAA.

“Every single successful young player I can think about has gone through the NCAA,” he said. “Not just the aspiring young American talents, but also almost any European golfer under 30, who is challenging on the European or PGA tour, has competed at the NCAA level.”

But getting to play collegiate golf in the States is tough because, according to Allen, the academic standards for athletes set by the Ivy League are even greater for international students than for those in the United States. In Melpignano’s case, his impressive marks in secondary school, coupled with tournament wins throughout Europe, demonstrated that he was a perfect match for the Quakers.

“At a school like Penn, it’s a very unique student-athlete who has the grades and the resources to play golf,” Allen said.

But that is one reason why U.S. colleges and universities actively recruit international players, looking abroad to find that rare combination.

Before taking the reigns at Penn in 2008, Allen coached the Colonials for fourteen years, when international athletes were a “hallmark” in most of the sports’ recruiting classes. With high tuition but without the academic reputation of the Ivy League, a strategy of George Washington was to recruit beyond the fifty states.

Consequently, Allen arrived at Penn with an arsenal of contacts in Europe and South America.

Lorne Kelly, a British golfer and former Walker Cup — the amateur version of the Ryder Cup — team member, is one of those contacts.

Allen relies on Kelly to make recruiting recommendations, and Kelly was the one who saw Melpignano play in Europe and notified the Penn coach.

Other contacts of Allen’s also occasionally call to place prospective athletes on his radar. Though Melpignano is the first international golf recruit since Duke transfer Robert Jakobi played for Penn during the 2004-05 season (Shiv Puri from New Delhi, India, also lettered two years before graduating in 1998), Allen hears from about 20 to 25 internationals — out of a total of six to seven hundred players — each year.

As Allen is no stranger to international players, he understands the importance of a diverse roster.

“You get a lot of different perspectives,” he said. “A kid who grew up in Connecticut will look at things differently than a kid who grew up in San Diego, or Houston, or Dayton, Ohio. So throwing in Francesco, growing up in Italy and spending time in London, he’s going to have some perspectives that I think are fun.”

Not only will Melpignano add to the character and personality of the squad, but he should also bring in a different outlook to the game.

Since the national federation in Italy, as well as in most foreign countries, is perennially strong, golfers compete as a team to represent their country. Allen noted that Melpignano’s team-affiliated background will bring closeness to the team.

And because of the difference in golf courses, especially in England, international players hit the ball differently and tend to “have a little more creativity around the greens,” Allen said.

“I’m expecting longer hitters,” Melpignano explained, “who would probably feel more comfortable hitting a full gap wedge than a half knock-down eight iron into a tight, tucked right-hand pin.”

Regardless of where Allen looks, though, he always knows what he is looking for.

“When the right player comes across the table, whether he’s from South America, or Europe, or Asia, or Philadelphia, I’m going to try to get the best guys we can each year,” he said.

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