Tigers unable to defend tourney title in Philadelphia

With leaves and shrubbery blowing onto the greens this Sunday at the Big Five Classic, one of the few saving graces for the golfers was a Penn State golf coach with a backpack leaf blower clearing the way for putts.

Looking to defend its title at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, men's golf was once again plagued by its inability to post a decisive and strong finish as the Tigers finished sixth at the end of the weekend. As has been the case all season, Princeton finished Saturday with winning chances, but, come Sunday, four out of five players shot worse than they had the previous day.

Senior captain Jason Gerken was the only Tiger not to dip in performance from day one to day two. Gerken, who was the top performer for Princeton, shot a 74 both days, finishing in ninth place overall with a two-round 148.

Junior John Sawin, who recorded the lowest first round score for the Tigers on Saturday with a 72, shot an 80 Sunday afternoon for a total of 152, which left him tied for 21st.

Freshman Max Schechter, in his first appearance for Princeton, shot a 155 to tie for 33rd (77-78). Classmate Andrew Maliniak finished one stroke behind Schechter in 38th with a 156 (77-79). Rounding out the five for the Tigers was senior Jesse Dixon, who shot a 74 on Saturday and an 83 on Sunday (157) for a 49th-place finish.

The story of the weekend was the epic battle against the swirling winds. With the balls oscillating as the players were trying to hit them, the wind had to be taken into account on every shot, especially on putts.

"[Saturday] was a pretty good day," Gerken said. "We held it together despite the conditions. Today we struggled finishing, which has been our problem all year. We need some sort of a confidence boost."

Princeton has its final tournament of the season in Georgetown this weekend as it looks to break this recent closing slump with a big win at a regional event. The Tigers will be up against a similar field to the one they faced last weekend, and they feel like they can put forth a good showing if they focus on maintaining a level of consistency throughout both days of the tournament.

Windswept

Women's golf faced similar conditions last weekend at the Penn State Women's Golf Nittany Lion Invitational. Wearing three to four layers Sunday to protect against the weather, Princeton finished third out of a field of 16 other college opponents.

The Tigers finished out Saturday tied for second with UC Irvine and only one stroke out of the lead at 302. They shot a formidable 305 on Sunday, giving them a 303 average for the tournament. That score was disappointing for Princeton because it was just below the 304 goal that the team has set for itself this season.

Junior Sharla Cloutier finished in a three-way tie for fourth place with a two round score of 148 (77-71), four strokes behind the first-place finisher. Maggie Lester of Penn State finished at par to take the title.

Freshman Susanna Aboff finished seventh with a 149 (73-76). Freshman Marlowe Boukis and sophomore Annika Welander mirrored one another last weekend. Each shot scores of 76 on Saturday and 79 on Sunday (154) to tie for 22nd. Caitlin Sullivan shot 78 and 81 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, to tie for 34th place at 159.

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"It was very windy and cold," Cloutier said. "We were all wearing three layers. With every shot you hit you had to factor in the wind, even on the putt."

Though Princeton did not win this tournament, it still has confidence in its potential for the 2005-06 season.

"Every tournament reaffirms the fact that we have outstripped the Ivy League," Welander said. "It's really cool to go out there and go neck-and-neck with these teams that play all year round."

The Tigers have this week off and will play their final tournament of the fall season Oct. 31 to Nov. 2 in Miami, Fla. They are looking forward to the warmer weather.

"We're going to have a great time," Cloutier said. "We're going to have a spa treatment, and it's going to be very relaxed, so we should play some good golf."

Princeton won this tournament last year in a very close race against Miami and is looking forward to competing with the home team again this year.