Lack of practice hampers men's golf at Navy

Navy sunk the men's golf team this weekend at the Navy Spring Invitational. While Princeton had hoped to capitalize on the momentum of its resounding first-place finish at last week's George Washington Invitational, it was unable to adjust to course conditions and placed a disappointing 12th.

The spring has been something of a seesaw for the Tigers. While their season opener found them in Patterson, California, for the Diablo Grande Tournament, a winter of little more than indoor practice was clearly apparent in Princeton's ninth-place finish — 43 strokes off champion Wisconsin.

"We have had a rough start to this spring because of a number of factors, some of which we could control, others that we couldn't," freshman Jason Gerken said.

"We made it outside to play for the first time only three weeks ago, and since then we have played two more tournaments, leaving us little time to practice."

Yet a lack of practice was barely visible when the Tigers headed to Issue, Maryland, to compete in the George Washington Invitational. With seniors Nat Hoopes and Cassidy Traub shooting 75 — tying for third overall — and four individuals finishing in the top 20, the Tigers' combined score of 309 soundly defeated Ivy rival Yale, Rutgers and the tournament host Colonials. This would be the Tigers' first win since their Ivy League victory nearly a year ago.

"After winning at G.W. last weekend, our performance at Navy was a big disappointment," Hoopes said.

The Tigers never quite adjusted to the cold and breezy conditions that dominated the two-day tournament at the United States Naval Academy Golf Club. The wind and cold temperatures combined to create greens that were so fast that they were nearly unputtable.

The first round left Greg Johnson with an encouraging one-under-par 70, and tied with eventual medalist Brian Cram of Navy. While the second round saw Cram's score dive into the 60s, Johnson's would balloon to a 79 and leave him tied for 22nd. Unfortunately this performance would still be the low in the Tigers' combined score of 617 — 35 strokes off Navy.

"The greens were faster than anything we've seen in a long time, and a few of us got frustrated too quickly," Hoopes said.

Gerken scored a 152 and Traub scored a 155 for Princeton. The Tigers rounded out individual play with freshman John Locke's and Hoopes' scores of 166.

Mental struggle

Princeton seemed to struggle with nearly every aspect of their game, and never managed to be mentally in the game.

"I made several mental errors, resulting in big numbers on a few holes that ballooned my scores," Gerken said. "I definitely struggled hitting the ball, but I realize that my problems can be corrected with a little practice."

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The combination of yesterday's snowstorm and the closure of Springdale driving range for repairs has made that practice increasingly difficult to find.

With the best teams in the district heading to Springdale Golf Club for next weekend's Princeton Invitational, however, it is essential that the Tigers play well enough to secure a top four district ranking, which guarantees a bid to NCAA regionals.

"We have a distinct advantage playing our invitational at Springdale, so provided the tournament doesn't get cancelled because of the weather, we should do well," Gerken said.

"We need some motivation to get our acts together — none of us are having much fun right now, but this will change shortly."

So long as Old Man Winter hides his tail and runs away, allowing the Spring warmer weather to rear its head, the Tigers should be able to hit the links in time for the Invitational this weekend. But with five inches that need to melt, that may not be possible.

Two weeks later is the Ivy League Championship at Metedeconk National Golf Club in Jackson, N.J. A win there would give the Tigers an automatic bid to regionals in early May — and it would be the Tigers' fourth consecutive Ivy League Championship.

"We clearly have a lot to work on if we want to bring home a fourth straight Ivy League tournament in a couple of weeks," Hoopes said.