The men's and women's golf squads are looking to capitalize on recruiting efforts and strong returning players to jump in the Ivy League standings this season.
Men's golf
Head Coach Ed Hanley has emphasized discipline and efficiency for his team in the 2005-2006 season. It appears that the squad has finally tuned in to its coach's message and is ready to bring the success Hanley's tenure has deserved.
Hanley has spent the better part of recent seasons on the recruiting trail, and with the team's improvement last season, he can be more than satisfied with the progress of his players. Nine golfers return to the team, and Conor Malloy '09 and Chris Hoffman '09 add depth to a squad that already boasts many solid players. Chief among them is Larry Hartell '08, a member of the PING All-New England Team in 2004-2005.
Hartell was the star of last season's team, finishing as Brown's top scorer three times during the spring. While he acknowledged that he enjoyed the recognition of being named to the All-New England Team, he says it means little going into this season.
"Once you hit that first tee shot, reputations suddenly start to mean very little," he said. "We have a lot of experienced players like Donny Mowlds ('06) and Chip Virnig ('06), who have had great summers and understand what it takes to win here. Our success is going to come from the ability of those guys to lift us up when things aren't going as well as we want."
Any success the team has this year will also be the result of the tremendous depth Hanley has acquired. Any of the 10 players on the roster has the potential to emerge as a team mainstay.
"While we have the depth to bring back some hardware for the first time, our real challenge is going to be maintaining standards across the difficult winter period where regular training is not possible," said Aaron Telch '07.
The winter training schedule will be crucial to the team's performance at the Ivy League Championships in the spring. Hanley has identified positive practice as being the main focus for the team and has emphasized that a place on the team will only be retained through commitment and discipline.
"We are all very aware that competition this year means no one is guaranteed to travel, yet this is good because the squad's depth is going to take a lot of pressure off some of the better performers," Telch said.
Telch's campaign in the spring embodied Brown's struggles to capitalize on the immense talent within the squad.
"I had a few rough patches, but the work I've done over the summer to remove some of the kinks has been really worth it," Telch said. "The tough season last year has added a lot of incentive for me to continue working."
With improvements across the board, it appears that Brown can finally enjoy the luxuries and strength experience affords.
Lanny Benson '07, now one of the stalwarts of the team, described this season's team as "promising."
"It feels as though we have really made ground on a lot of our competition and are a good fall-winter period away from something big," he said. "It is encouraging to see guys who struggled to put together below par rounds starting to achieve these frequently. Guys like Greg Werntz ('07), Ryan Larson ('08) and Dave Cangemi ('06) provide us a real depth that not many other squads enjoy."
The men's Dartmouth Invitational last weekend was canceled. The first fall competition on Brown's schedule will be the Central Connecticut Invitational on Sept. 24-25 in New Britain, Conn.
Women's golf
Both Tiffany Wade '08 and Blythe Crane '08 were solid in their debut seasons last year, and they will look to improve on their 21st- and 16th-place showings, respectively, at last season's Ivy League Championships. Captain Emily Washington '06, Eleanor Thomas '06 and Elizabeth Fisher '07 are returning as well. The additions of Christine Pappas '09, Karin Freed '09 and Betty Snyder '09 will hopefully allow Head Coach Mike Harbor to continue developing the long-term interests of the program.
Wade described the first-year additions as "exciting." "They all come with solid credentials and have fit into the squad and the culture really well," she added
The team is keen on bettering last season's fourth-place showing at the Ivy League Championships. The maintenance of discipline and focus during the winter months will be critical.
"We know the way to win the Ivies this year is to really work on the way we discipline ourselves to achieve greater focus," Wade said. "Coach Harbor has outlined a program where we are now practicing about double what we did last year. We believe we can achieve a lot with respect to our discipline and focus through our physical conditioning works."
The women's golf team's fall season starts this weekend at their Dartmouth Invitational. The Bears will attempt to duplicate or better last year's results, when they placed fifth overall out of 25 teams.
