After finishing 12th and 11th at the James Madison and St. John's Invitational tournaments the last two weekends, the Penn men's golf team intends to continue climbing the leaderboard on Saturday at the ECAC Championships in Binghamton, N.Y.
"I'm certainly expecting improvements," Penn coach Heath Davidson said. "We certainly have the talent to do well here."
One component of the team's play that the Quakers will focus on in Binghamton is first-day scoring. Penn had an 11-stroke differential between the first and second days at James Madison but was able to narrow the gap to one stroke at Bethpage Country Club last weekend.
"We always tend to shoot ourselves out of it in the first round," Penn senior Endel Liias said.
Peyton Wallace also is putting a lot of emphasis on Penn's start this weekend.
"If we play in the first round like we do in the second round, we'll be in good shape every week," Wallace said.
Getting into good shape has been a struggle for Penn in the early season, as the Quakers began season play later than most squads.
"We are most definitely getting into the swing of things," Liias said. "I definitely think we will play better this weekend."
Interestingly, this is the first time Penn's players will compete on this weekend's course -- the Links at Hiawatha. The Quakers have played in Binghamton in previous years but never at the Links.
"I don't know much about the course, to be quite honest," Davidson said.
Much like their coach, the Quakers also lack familiarity with the course.
"I don't believe any of us have played the course before," Liias said.
An additional challenge for the Quakers will be a new set of opponents this weekend. Many of the District II foes Penn has faced this fall are at a tournament hosted by Temple, but a scheduling conflict prevented the Red and Blue from playing there.
Instead of Maryland, Princeton and St. John's, the main competition will come from schools based farther to the north, such as Harvard, Yale and Binghamton.
"This is a slightly different field," Davidson said, noting the increased number of Ivy League schools at this tournament versus previous ones.
Five Penn players will travel to the tournament -- including the Squires brothers, junior Adam and freshman Scott, freshman Derek Rogers and seniors Liias -- who shot a 73 at Bethpage last weekend -- and Wallace.
Correction
This article incorrectly states that Scott Squires would be playing in the ECAC Championships. In fact, Chad Perman will be playing at the championships. Additionally, the photo caption incorrectly implies that Jeff Riley will be playing at the championships.The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
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