After beginning the season on a sour note, the Penn State men's golf team will head south to try to build some momentum.

Today, the team will tee off in the VCU/Mattaponi Springs Shootout. The two-day event is hosted by the Virginia Commonwealth Rams and held at the Mattaponi Springs Golf Course in Ruther Glen, Va. It is the second tournament of the year for the Nittany Lions.

Head coach Greg Nye said that his expectations for this year are no different than any other; he thinks his team can win. Unfortunately for the Lions, the results haven't been that much different from last year, either.

It may be possible to chalk up Penn State's No. 11 finish at the Wolverine Invitational to early-season rust. If it continues, this fall campaign will begin to mirror that of last spring.

"Our team can win tournaments. We can. Our scores in practice and everything definitely show that we can win tournaments," junior Robert Rohanna said.

One of the main problems from last week was the team's inability to finish. Penn State shot 291 and 286 for the first two rounds, a score that wasn't scaring the teams at the top of the leaderboard, but still had the Lions in ninth place with a legitimate shot to climb a few spots.

In the final round, the golfers fired a combined 300, tying for the worst round of the entire tournament with last-place Furman. Each of the top three finishers for the team--Rohanna, Chad Bricker and Kevin Foley--shot worse in the third round than they did in the second. Eliminating this kind of mental lapse will help the Lions find success through the year.

The golfers are not hanging their heads, though. Bricker said that he is confident in his game and thinks the team can get it together.

Rohanna, who was unhappy about his final round, still feels that he is playing well.

Nye was encouraged by his players' individual performances this summer. It's still early enough in the year that Penn State can regain momentum and rebound from the bad start.

This tournament is a pivotal one for Lions. If they finish well, it could build confidence heading into their next event on Oct. 9. In golf, having that kind of faith in your game goes a long way in helping you win. However, another poor finish could have the exact opposite effect and dampen their spirits.

How the team responds to tomorrow's final results will have an enormous impact on the rest of the season for the golfers. What those results will be is entirely up to them.