Men's golf aims to improve on lackluster start to fall season

This weekend the men's golf team heads to Penn for the Big Five Penn Classic. The Tigers have struggled throughout the fall, failing to find consistency among their players.

It is important for the team to succeed this weekend, not only because it will be facing a Georgetown squad that is currently among the top teams in the region, but because the field will include Ivy League rivals Penn, Yale and Columbia. This will mark the Tigers first opportunity to see Yale in action since last year's Ivy League Championships. Princeton relinqueshed that crown after a three year run last year, finnishing third behind first-place Yale and second-place Penn.

Litmus test

"This weekend will be a good litmus test for our chances at reclaiming the Ivy title," head coach Will Green said.

While the Tigers have failed to meet their own personal goals and expectations for their fall season thus far, they are not very far behind recent years. So far this year, the team has finished eighth, fifth and third, which does not compare unfavorably with last year's opening eighth, second and third-place results. The main differences between this year's squad and last year's seems to be consistency and depth.

"Last year's team was more consistent from one to four or five," Green said. "But this year's team has more players that can compete in the starting lineup and help us win."

Unfortunately, the depth of this year's starting lineup that Green speaks of has failed to emerge in the Tigers' last three starts. In fact, the team has been so lopsided this fall that only sophomore Jason Gerken and junior Creighton Page have broken the top 20 in any tournament. In a competitive region where players consistently shoot under par to win championships, only Gerken has produced a subpar round for the Tigers.

Also missing is the steadying force that last year's captain, Cassidy Traub '03, brought to the team. Traub's regular rounds at or around par bolstered the team in a way that is absent this year. A reliance on one or two players will continue to prevent tournament victories. Still the Tigers are quick to remind doubters that the season is far from over.

Not over until...

"I think it is too soon to call the fall a disappointment, as we have played only three of a scheduled five tournaments," Green said. "We believe we have a good opportunity to win this weekend and two top-three finishes to end the fall should be viewed as a success."

To win at the Big Five Classic and the following weekend's Georgetown invitational (where the Tigers have perennially succeeded), Princeton will need certain players to step up down the stretch. Gerken and Page have played extremely well, and have been Princeton's two top finishers in every start so far. The key is going to be Princeton's three, four and five players, who have shown periods of strength, but have also been unable to provide scores hovering around par.

The team will need to lean more heavily upon senior Greg Johnson to provide scores under 75 every round and to relieve some pressure on the younger players who have proven that they can shoot under par in practice, but have struggled during competition. This year's recruiting class has failed to produce a leading freshman. While Brent Herlihy and John Sawin have both competed, their contributions have been limited. Herlihy, the most active freshman, has finished 50th, 24th and 66th in his first three starts as a Tiger.

As important as the fall season is to Princeton within the context of the regional ranking system, it has never been an indicator of spring performance. In fact, during the Tigers' three-year reign as Ivy League champions (2000-2002) they only garnered one fall win. Still the team needs to remain in the top four in its region to get a bid to NCAA regionals.

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"The two seasons are so vastly different that we won't know how good we can be until early to mid-March," Green said. "I like the makeup of our team, and I like our chances down the stretch in the fall. I also believe we have a team that is capable of reclaiming the Ivy League title and even winning every event in the spring."

These are big expectations for the Tigers as they head into the weekend.