The men’s and women’s golf teams will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. and Princeton, N. J. respectively, this weekend looking to extend their impressive play into the 2008-9 season. Last year, the men’s team won the Ivy League Championship and the women’s team took second place in the tournament.
While the Lady Lions already have one tournament under their belts, the men’s trip to Ann Arbor will be the first for the team this year. The women came in sixth place out of 15 teams at the Nittany Lion Invitational last weekend.
“We’re excited to go play at Princeton,” women’s coach Kari Williams said, remembering back to last season when the Lions beat the Tigers by one stroke in the NCAA tournament. “I’m excited to get over and have a chance to play them on their home course.”
The women’s team has added two new freshmen, Lynda Kwon and Robin Lee, who took 10th overall individually at the Nittany Invitational last week with a combined three-round score of 228.
“They’ve both [Lee and Kwon] earned a starting spot in the Princeton event,” Coach Williams said.
The men’s team also has two new freshmen, Brendan Doyle from California and Sam Mysock from Oklahoma. Doyle earned all-League honors all four year of high school and placed 10th overall in the GolfWeek Invitational, according to gocolumbialions.com.
Though head coach Rich Mueller could not be reached for comment, the men had a very impressive season last year, finishing with a remarkable nine-stroke victory over the second place team, the Yale Bulldogs.
The team did lose one senior, Gus Quartararo, but with the addition of the two exciting freshmen. the Lions are putting themselves in line to get right back on track and win a second consecutive Ivy Championship.
The women are looking forward to carrying momentum over from their top-half finish from last week and beginning their second tournament of the year. They will be playing a Princeton course that, though tough, suits their team strengths very well.
“The style of course that it is, is very close to the style of course we practice on. It’s got the same kind of style, and the same kinds of greens,” coach Williams said, noting that the team is used to some very undulating greens and tough bunkers on the home course where it practices and hosts matches.
“I think the course really plays to our advantage.” Williams added.
Following their tournaments in Ann Arbor and Princeton, the men’s and women’s teams will look to travel to Cornell and Yale, respectively, to compete in two invitationals.
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