M. Golf doomed to second by bad opener

As the scorecards were turned in at the end of round one, the Leigh Invitational seemed to be the Penn men's golf team's first disappointing showing of the year. A team score of 306 at the end of day one resulted in a sixth-place standing on the leaderboard. It was an unfamiliar position for this year's Quakers. The Quakers were victorious in the exact same tournament last year. There's no doubt that sliding into sixth place was disappointing initially. "It was a rough day the first day out," said Penn freshman Adam Squires, who shot a team-best 73 on the day. However, a tenacious Red and Blue appeared during round two. Led by sophomore Chad Perman's blistering score of even-par 72 on day two, Penn shot four places up the leaderboard into second place. In fact, the team combined for the best score of the day -- 297. "In the first round, I played a little sloppy. I was a little more comfortable with the course in the second round. I think everyone hadn't played a tournament in a while and didn't know what to expect," Perman said. "I hit a lot of greens, which gave me a shot at a lot of realistic birdie chances, and helped my score out." Penn coach Francis Vaughn, who has witnessed strong consistent play thus far this fall, was not ecstatic over his team's performance, despite the dramatic turnaround. "The team believed they could win the golf tournament," Vaughn said. "It was not our best round of the year. We shot a 289 at Navy." Mike Russell played the best 36 holes on the team, tallying scores of 75 and 73. Following Russell by a single stroke was the lone freshman on the Red and Blue, Squires, a native of Coral Springs, Fla. Squires posted robust rounds of 73 and 76 in his first tournament of the year and of his Penn golf career. "I kept the ball in play, made some birdies and played an all around good game. I played two decent rounds," Squires said. The newcomer's strong performance left an impression on the coach. "Adam Squires played really well for his first tournament. He finished 11th individually, which I thought was great," Vaughn said. The Quakers' second-place finish was bittersweet, nevertheless, as they were edged out by Princeton. The Red and Blue's archrival captured the tournament by seven strokes. "It was disappointing to us, but they just played better than us this tournament," Perman said. The Red and Blue have placed sixth, fifth and second in its last three tournaments, respectively. Penn looks to bring home its first championship of the year at the Binghamton Invitational, October 21-22.

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