Fore! Tigers start season

For the men's golf team, this year is all about experience and expectations.

With three seniors, two juniors and two freshmen, the two-time defending Ivy League Champions have plenty of experience.

"I really believe that this year's team is better than any we've had in the past," senior captain Jason Gerken said. "We're such a small team that everyone is forced to be dedicated at all times, and that dedication should pay off immensely this season."

The Tigers look well-prepared to continue their legacy of Ivy League domination, with three returning top 10 Ivy players. Princeton has won 18 titles in the 31-year history of the Ivy League Golf Championships, including five of the last six.

"Our primary goal is to win the Ivy League Championship again this year, which gets us an automatic bid to NCAA Regionals," Gerken said.

The team will try to rebound from a mediocre fall season — one where it failed to place higher than fifth.

"We were all disappointed with the fall," Gerken said. "We struggled to put four good scores together. We have to learn how to deal with tiring 36-hole days and how to finish tournaments. We also need to work on our approaches into greens, specifically wedge shots, so that we can make more birdies."

Gerken hopes the team will benefit from a productive offseason.

"We started a fairly regular lifting regimen, which should help us be more prepared for those 36-hole days," Gerken said. "We'll be spending a lot of time on short game and wedges, which tend to be the first things to go bad after a long time off."

The Tigers have a short spring season, with three tournaments before the Ivy League Championship. Their first tournament is over spring break at the Kauai Collegiate Cup in Kauai, Hawaii, on March 17.

Gerken will try to sharpen the team's focus with leadership and consistent play.

"My role is to keep everyone motivated," Gerken said. "Despite 12 national championships to our credit, we've not made it to NCAA finals in a long time. If we are playing well coming into Regionals, I think we could get hot and make it to finals."

Freshmen boost ladies

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After losing three top 10 Ivy League players to graduation, the women's golf team seemed to be heading into a rebuilding year ... until two talented freshmen showed up.

"We're just as strong as we were last year, if not a little stronger, thanks in large part to our freshmen, Marlowe Boukis and Susannah Aboff," junior Sharla Cloutier said. "They have a lot of national experience and push everyone else to shoot lower scores."

The Tigers had a solid fall season, placing in the top half at nearly every tournament and cracking the nation's top 50 for the first time in the program's history. But Cloutier expects even more.

"We played well [in the fall], but there's always room for improvement," Cloutier said. "Ideally, I'd like to see our top three players continue to shoot good numbers and then get a little more consistency from the four and five spots. They can go low, but we've got to guard against the occasional big numbers."

The team must adjust to the resignation of 15-year Princeton golf coach, Eric Stein, who accepted a non-golf-related position in the athletic administration at Stanford this spring. Dick Hunt, who was assistant coach for two years, has been promoted to interim head coach.

"I am very comfortable stepping into this position," Hunt said. "The team members have gone out of their way to make the transition go smoothly."

The Tigers face a scenic spring schedule — their first tournament is the Sun Trust Lady Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., on March 11, followed by a trip to Honolulu, Hawaii, on March 20.

"This has been the best offseason yet," Cloutier said. "Today we played 18 holes in the cold and wind, and we're talking about how much easier it's going to be to play in Florida and Hawaii. We're ready to go."

The Princeton women, also the defending Ivy League Champions, have won three of the last five titles.

"We're ready to defend our Ivy title successfully, thereby earning a third straight trip to the NCAA Regional tournament," Cloutier said. "If we play to our potential, maybe we'll finally make it the national championship."