Men's golf takes third at home in tune-up for Ivy Championship

Coming into the back nine of this weekend's Princeton Invitational, sophomore Nat Hoopes was looking to take home an individual title for the second week in a row.

After winning last week's Navy Invitational in a playoff, Hoopes came into the back nine two-under par and amongst the top players at his home course.

"I'm beginning to think I can win every week," Hoopes said. "You always like to win on your home course."

However, the wind caught up with Hoopes and the sophomore fired a final nine of 40 to finish in an impressive tie for sixth place while the Tigers as a team finished in third in the 18-team field.

Princeton finished with a team score of 585 for the two-day competition eight strokes behind the winner, Penn State. Georgetown also shot 585, but beat Princeton in a tiebreaker.

I think this is a really good result going into Ivies," Hoopes said. "We were able to beat Penn and Dartmouth who are two of the top Ivy teams."

Princeton was also helped by consistant finishes for all of the roster. Junior James Milam finished in 12th place, shooting a 146 with rounds of 75 and 71 and senior Peter McWhorter was one stroke behind Milam with rounds of 74 and 73.

Freshman Greg Johnson was the fourth Tiger to finish with rounds of 73 and 77 which put in him in a tie for 35th.

"It was tough not winning as a team, but we were in contention again, which is always a good sign," Hoopes said.

Princeton was hampered by the weather, which for the first time this season was free of rain for much of the tournament. While rain was not a factor for much of the two-day event, strong winds whistled through the course causing shots miss their intended targets much of the time.

"I'd much rather be in a little rain than the wind that we had," Hoopes said. "Rain doesn't do as much to the way the ball flies."

Princeton takes to the links next weekend in the Ivy Championships.