Lakeview Golf Course almost seemed like a misnomer as the men's golf team waded through the Harrisonburg, Va., links for this weekend's James Madison Invitational. Due to the strong winds and torrential rains of Hurricane Isabel, the tournament was pushed back one day, leaving the Tigers to finish a less than stellar debut Monday morning on a soggy golf course.
Despite an eighth-place finish in a field of 17 teams, there were a few bright spots in Princeton's play. Most notable was sophomore Jason Gerken's fifth place showing. Gerken finished at a five-under par 208 for the three-round tournament. His final round of 69 left him only four strokes behind tournament medalist Brent Pittman of Rutgers.
Unfortunately, in what turned out to be a top-heavy tournament, the rest of the Tigers faltered. Gerken was the only Tiger to make it into the top 20, with junior Creighton Page tying for 22nd with a 4-over 217 and senior captain Greg Johnson tying for 35th with a six-over 219. Sophomore John Locke and freshman Brent Herlihy rounded out the Tigers' top five, tied for 49th and 66th respectively.
With a tournament comprised of so many good players, scoring even pars just simply was not enough to win.
"We didn't make enough birdies, and that's what you need in a tournament like this," men's head coach Will Green said.
Georgetown topped host James Madison by one stroke with an 846, 18 strokes ahead of the Tigers to win the 30th annual invite. The Dukes' second place finish was followed by Maryland, Towson and local rival Rutgers. The only other Ivy competitor at the tournament, Penn, came in 13 strokes behind the Tigers. The Quakers, who defeated Princeton last year at the Ivy League Championships, were tied for 12th. This was little consolation to the Tigers as they headed back from Virginia.
"While it's nice to beat someone in your league, we are really not looking at the Ivy League now," coach Green said. "We're really looking to beat everyone we play and this weekend we just really didn't play as well as we could."
The Tigers continue their season next weekend at the famed Bethpage Red Course in Farmingdale, N.Y., for the McLaughlin Intercollegiate.
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