Golfer Cathy Gitzendanner never wanted to be a Lady Lion.

When deciding where to go to college, Gitzendanner said she would not go to Penn State because she wanted to go someplace different than her friends. So when Coach Mary Kennedy approached her mother at the PIAA tournament during her junior year in high school, Gitzendanner told her mother not to talk to her or take the information she was handing out about the Penn State golf program.

"I told my mom not to take it because I didn't want to come here," she said. "There's no way I'll ever go to Penn State, so there's no use even talking to her."

Nevertheless, Kennedy called her a few months later and Gitzendanner reluctantly agreed to visit the campus.

"In the beginning I sensed that maybe she didn't want Penn State," Kennedy said. "But after we spent the day talking about our winter program and what we had to offer, I thought it was enticing for her.

"I knew she wanted to learn and become a better player," Kennedy continued. "She wanted the opportunity to work with her coaches and maybe she liked the fact that we were going to spend time on an individual basis rather than just as a team."

"I was really impressed with the way Mary doesn't change your stroke and the way she works with you as an individual," Gitzendanner said. "She respects the way you play and that's important."

This factor and Kennedy herself, along with the indoor practice facilities and team members convinced Gitzendanner to consider Penn State along with North Carolina at Chapel Hill, another impressive golf school.

"I waited until the last minute and was still unsure," she explained. "Then my dad suggested I try Penn State (since it's close to home) and I have been happy ever since. It was just so ironic because I swore I'd never come here."

Gitzendanner and fellow freshman Wendy MacTurk immediately jumped into starting positions. Now a junior, Gitzendanner's consistency and cool head make her a team leader.

"It didn't seem to bother any of the older players that we were starting directly out of high school," Gitzendanner said. "We proved that we were good enough to go on the trips by our qualifying rounds."

"Being an underclassman when I came in last year, you look at Wendy and Cathy and admire them," sophomore Kerry Lee O'Leary said. "They took in the starting positions here and you look up to them for what they have accomplished."

In the last round of the Lady Lion Invitational two weeks ago, Gitzendanner shot her lowest total of the weekend despite the pressure of knowing her team was only leading by one stroke at the start of the day. Gitzendanner 's 75 helped Penn State's Blue Team to its first home victory since 1982. Individually, she shot a 78 average for the weekend to capture fourth-place honors.

"Cathy is a good person to admire," teammate Meg Young said. "You know if she goes out and has a bad day, she'll improve the next round. She deserves her fourth-place finish."

"I enjoy Cathy as a player," assistant coach Denise St. Pierre said. "She doesn't give up out there and her finish proved it. She really came through and played well."

Gitzendanner said the strong points of her game are driving and keeping the ball on the fairway and her weak point is hitting the second shot on the par-4s.

She also said she sometimes has a little trouble with putting, but has gained confidence after spending countless hours practicing with her coaches.

Gitzendanner said she had to practice a lot during her freshman year to make the traveling squad. Although she chose to stay home once during her first year to study for an exam, she has won a spot in every tournament.

"I feel that if I'm here I might as well perform," she said. "Not that I've always done as well as I'd have liked on the trips."

During her three years of collegiate competition, Gitzendanner has averaged in the low-80s. But she got frustrated last spring because she tended to shoot 80-81, so she took most of the summer off from golf.

"I just couldn't seem to get over that score and I started to feel like there was no reward," she explained. "I practiced in the summer and all year and I still shot in the 80s. There's just a point where a person gives up. I know I'm capable of shooting in the mid- to low- 70s and it was depressing to shoot way above it."

Gitzendanner did, however, cite mental strategies as one of the primary areas her game has improved while at Penn State.

"If I miss a putt now, I just say there is plenty of room to recover, but in high school I'd be mad and frustrated," she said. "In college you can't let your attitude get in the way because the whole team is depending on that one putt or that one shot.

"When I shoot a high score and it doesn't count for the team I get mad at myself because I didn't perform to what I expect to play," she continued. "But it if it counts for the team, you're still happy. It's an individual sport with a team atmosphere."

As a child, Gitzendanner often tagged along with her parents to the Whitford Country Club in Exton, where she watched her parents play every Sunday. Occasionally she would hit a few balls around, but one July day she asked her parents if she could play a round.

"They let me play but they didn't think I would last 18 holes," Gitzendanner said. "They were surprised that I made it past the second or third hole."

"I remember her first score being a 127 when she was 9-years-old," said her father, Charles. "So I told her not to play anymore until she took lessons."

Gitzendanner then began weekly lessons with club professional Harry Hammond and began playing in tournaments when she was 11. When she won the Merrill Lynch Classic at age 16, she knew she wanted to pursue golf further.

But once at Downingtown High School, Gitzendanner had a choice to make. Because she excelled in field hockey, golf and lacrosse, she had to decide which sports to concentrate on. She finally chose to play lacrosse and golf. Although she lettered in lacrosse, she concentrated more on golf.

Because there was no girls' team at her high school, she played on the boys' golf team and won three letters playing in its second position. She won second-team All-Chesmont League honors as a junior.

In 1986, Gitzendanner won the PGA National Junior Qualifier in the Philadelphia area and finished second in the Philadelphia Championship and the Philadelphia Scholastic Golf Classic. She also played No. 3 for the victorious Philadelphia team in the 1985 and 1986 Inter-City Championships against Boston and New York.

Gitzendanner, an early child development major, wants to become a teaching professional at the Whitford Country Club when she graduates. She holds two club titles there.

"I've already given lessons to people for fun and they all know me there," she said. "I think it would be a great place to start and make some money."