W. Golf aims to break 400 at Ivy tournament

The Penn women's golf team wraps up its spring season with the Ivy League Championships this weekend. The 36-hole tournament will take place tomorrow and Sunday at the Metedaconk National Golf Club in Jackson, N.J. The five team members competing for the Quakers this weekend will be senior captain Natasha Miller, junior Jen Schraut, sophomores Rachel Slosburg and Victoria Entine, and freshman Stacy Kress. Both Schraut and Entine competed in last year's tournament in Bethpage, N.Y. While the Quakers competed in that tournament, their scores did not count in the official standings, as this is the first year for women's golf as a varsity sport at Penn. The Red and Blue shot a 442 and a 460, for a two-day total of 902. In this weekend's tournament, the Quakers will face Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, defending champion Princeton and Yale. The only Ancient Eight schools without women's golf programs are Columbia and Cornell. Penn has already faced the Tigers and Elis once this spring, at William and Mary. In preparation for the Ivy Championships, the Quakers have been focusing on ironing out some of the kinks in their games -- especially long putting. "We want to go into the Ivies with a positive attitude," Miller said. The Quakers should have the benefit this weekend of five competitors, something that they have not experienced yet this season. Since only the top four scores each day count, having a fifth golfer would give the other four competitors some breathing room. The Quakers hope that the additional competitor will enable them to rebound from a last-place finish in the 17-team field at the William and Mary Invitational two weeks ago. The team also wants to focus on its season-long goal, which has been to shoot under 400 in every single round, regardless of the tournament. Last week, the Quakers added assistant coach Laura Hammond to the coaching staff. Hammond, who earned her master's degree in Elementary Education from Penn in January, was a four-year letterwinner for the Penn State women's golf team. Hammond was also a four-time Collegiate Tournament winner and was a four-time Philadelphia women's amateur champion as well. "Laura is a wonderful addition to an improving women's golf team," Penn coach Francis Vaughn said. "Her experience as a collegiate player will help develop future Penn golfers."

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