Coming off a turbulent and tragic spring season, the Penn State men's golf team faces a limited level of uncertainty as the new fall season approaches.

The spring season began with the death of sophomore golfer Michael Carter, a promising young prospect, in a car accident on Feb. 13, en route to his Westfield, N.J., home.

Afterwards, the team limped through the first several events before surging in April to take first place at the Rutherford Invitational.

The season ended on a slightly sour note, as the Nittany Lions finished 10th at the Big Ten Championships and tied for 17th at the NCAA East Regional.

After the graduation of several key seniors, including Josh Dawes and Jeff Turton, the Lions are left with a plethora of young faces with short resumes.

"With a lack of competitive experience at the collegiate level, it'll be a challenge to remain consistent," head coach Greg Nye said.

"[There will be] ups and downs, as opposed to the past when we've been very steady."

With only two juniors and seniors each on the 11-man roster, the Lions will have to rely on their younger troops for quick development and acclimation to the pressures of college golf.

Senior Jim Fuller is "certainly the leader" of the squad, said Nye, who also pointed to junior Ted Neville as a leader and player to watch this upcoming season.

"He had a terrific summer," Nye said, citing Neville's high finishes at the Oklahoma Amateur and the Southern Amateur.

"He had maybe the best summer out of anyone [on the team] and I expect him to help lead the way."

Other key golfers include sophomore Greg Pieczynski and a talented freshman corps of Marco Poccia, David Dankmyer and Chris Brown.

"We are going to be very careful with the freshmen," Nye said.

"They were already very good on their own before they met me."

An unknown variable lingering over the season is the impact of Carter's death six and a half months ago.

The tragedy was a unifying point last season for the team, Nye said, and several of the players visited the Carter family this summer.

"It strips you right to the core, and you see right inside the person," Nye said regarding his team's reaction to the tragedy.

"I think it's very unifying and that it's still going on...but at some point you have to move past [the tragedy]."

How that may be played out over the course of the season, especially with a predominantly young team, remains to be seen.

The Lions tee off their season Sept. 6 at the Badger Invitational in Madison, WI. Starting then, from the intangibles of team psychology to the tangible results of standings and development, the Lions will face an unknown road for which there is no map.