Sept. 7, 2006

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Heading into the first tournament of the fall season, senior co-captain Brock Bergman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) pauses to note the change in the Villanova program since his arrival on campus in 2003-04. That season began at the James Madison Invitational, where the Wildcats team score of 910 over three rounds was 18 strokes behind the next closest team in the standings.

With the 2006-07 season about to begin for Villanova at the Hawks Invitational, the Wildcats have five players in their lineup who each had a stroke average lower than 76 last season. Villanova, which finished 17th in that tournament at James Madison three years ago, was in the top 10 of every tournament it entered last season. That includes seven finishes in the top five for a program which returns nearly all of its top scorers this season.

"It is amazing to see the difference in the expectations of the team at practice," Bergman said. "We have gotten to the point where if you aren't breaking par during practice you are going to get lapped by other players. The increased expectations have shown up in lower scores at tournaments and during our qualifying event to start the season."

Bergman played six rounds in the team's first two tournament last season but then saw action in just one more round the rest of the season. Still, his stroke average of 75.86 was a career best and he once again appears to be entering the season in top form.

The same is true for fellow senior Steve Arnold (Langhorne, Pa.), who begins his second year at Villanova. Arnold had as good a summer season as a player can half, winning one of the four majors on the Golf Association of Pennsylvania circuit and claiming the association's coveted Silver Cross Award. Arnold looks forward to making the transition back into the collegiate schedule.

"Golf is an individual sport but we try to stress the team concept in our practices," Arnold said. "Our philosophy is that each player go out and play the best he can and shoot as low a score as he can. If you play your best you aren't going to hurt the team. It is great if you can have a low round, and if you don't there is hopefully someone who can pick you up on any given day."

Joining the two seniors in the lineup to start the season will be sophomores Andrew Alexander (Rochester, Minn.), Doug Stadler (Wexford, Pa.) and Brett Bergman (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Alexander and Stadler were among the team's leading scorers a year ago and earned guaranteed spots on the roster this season. Bergman made the squad during the team's qualifying tournament this season, and his finish in the team event earned him the fifth spot in the opening tournament lineup.

This weekend's Hawks Invitational will be hosted by the University of Hartford. The tournament will take place in Bolton, Massachusetts on the Oaks course at The International. The course is par-72 and measures 6,944 yards from the back tees. The teams will play 36 holes of golf on Friday and the final 18 holes on Sunday.

"It has been really great to see the transition the team has made over the past four years, and I am proud to have been a part of it," Bergman said. "This season the team started out the preseason more focused than where we have been previously. I love the attitude of this group of players and I definitely believe that we are a better team than in the past with a chance to make an NCAA Regional this spring."

Villanova head coaches Jake Moran and Joe Moran are beginning their 14th season at the helm of the Wildcat program. The Moran brothers have their team poised for a successful season and are looking forward to their opening tournament.

In addition to the five players in the lineup, Villanova will be able to choose one player to join the tournament field as an individual. In contention for that final spot are sophomores Bill Gropp (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) and Paul Sjoberg (Thief River Falls, Minn.), as well as freshman Mike Gross (Clarks Green, Pa.).

The Wildcats roster has been reduced in size to eight players this season, but Arnold feels that Villanova has set itself up for success with the makeup of the current team.

"We have gotten more organized as a team this year and come together as a smaller group of players than what we had last year," Arnold said. "The size of the team this year [eight players] has made it easier to run practices and keep things in order. I was really happy to see everyone playing well in our qualifying rounds and I am confident that any of the eight players on the roster are capable of putting up good numbers in tournaments this season."

Results from this weekend's tournament will be available on www.villanova.com on Friday and Saturday evening. Fans can also call the Wildcats scoring hotline at 888-400-NOVA (6682) for updates each night.