It seemed as though something had to give for the Penn State men's golf team this season. After two spring tournaments with two disappointing results, the golfers felt that they were on the verge of putting together a competitive match.

But this weekend, at the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., it was just more of the same for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State finished 15th overall, with a combined three-round score of 909 (57-over par) at ASU's Karsten Golf Course. For the team, it was the third straight match in which it has finished 14th or worse.

"None of us played well this weekend," sophomore Robert Rohanna said.

Rohanna once again finished best among the Penn State golfers. It was not nearly enough to propel the team up the leaderboard, though, as it finished in last place, 32 strokes behind its nearest competitor.

Rohanna's 7-over-par 220 put him in a tie for 52nd place individually. Senior Greg Pieczynski finished tied for 70th at 13-over. Freshman Mitch Van Zelfden carded an 18-over score, good for 77th, while sophomore Harvin Groft and freshman Chad Bricker turned in the two highest totals of the tournament, with 24- and 31-over-par performances, respectively.

"That's golf," Rohanna said of the team's poor play this weekend. "I mean, sometimes you show up and play well, and sometimes you don't."

While it may be an oversimplified interpretation of the game, it's still very clear that the Lions have been on the wrong side of that coin throughout much of the season thus far.

"We're struggling quite a bit, obviously, and our scores are indicating that," Pieczynski said. "But it's not for a lack of effort, that's for sure."

The effort has definitely been there, as the golfers have spent as much time as possible trying to improve on the weak spots in their games. Some of them have been tinkering with their swings and making adjustments that could shave a few strokes off their scores.

If Penn State is going to get anything going, it is going to have to do so soon. The team has only two tournaments remaining before Big Ten Championships, with one of them being played on its home course. The Lions can't change how well their opponents play, but the message from the golfers has been simple: if they play good golf, the rest will take care of itself.