It wasn't the optimal way to end the fall season, but the Penn State men's golf team will have to accept it.

At this past weekend's Landfall Tradition Collegiate in Wilmington, N.C., the Nittany Lions, foiled by a second-round struggle, placed ninth out of 12 twelve teams with a 46-over 910 team score. Senior Jim Fuller, who tied for 15th with a four-over 220, was the highest finishing Lion.

Saturday's second round proved to be the kicker for Penn State. Key sophomore golfers Greg Piecyzinski (seven-over 79), Mark Leon (11-over 83) and Andrew Price (10-over 82) all posted or equaled their high scores for the tournament during Saturday's play. These contributed to Penn State's team score of 22-over 310 for the second round, which did not include Leon's score.

Piecyzinski (13-over 229) finished tied for 37th place, Leon (14-over 230) played well enough in the other two rounds to tie for 41st place, junior Ted Neville (16-over 232) improved his game each round to tie for 45th place, and Price (28-over 244) tied for 56th place.

"I don't want to say [the coaches] are disappointed, but I think the guys are," Penn State assistant men's golf coach Kirk Kayden said. "It was a tough course with tough competition, and coming off back-to-back trips is tough. I don't want to make excuses, but I think it's tough to keep focus [in such circumstances]."

Played at the Pete Dye Course at the Country Club of Landfall, the event hosted two golf powerhouses in the University of Minnesota and Duke University in addition to several other talented teams. The Golden Gophers shared first place with North Carolina-Wilmington with a one-under 863, while the Blue Devils garnered fourth place with a 10-over 874.

The Landfall wrapped up the Lions' solid fall season. Despite having a relatively young and untested team, Penn State won two tournaments (September's James Madison Invitational and October's Georgetown Invite) and finished third in the season-opening Badger Invitational.

While upperclassmen Fuller and Neville have steadily improved their games, it is the younger trio of Piecyzinski, Leon and Price that has impressed the coaching staff the most.

"Greg's been a pleasant surprise for us, especially for his first year," Kayden said. "Mark Leon has been very steady for us - I think he had only one bad round all year. Andrew has had time to improve, and [each golfer has] showed signs that they'll be good players coming down the key stretch of the year in April and May."