Big plans for Big Five golf tourney

More than a year ago, retiring Penn men's golf coach Francis Vaughn called his counterpart at Temple, Brian Quinn, and asked him to take over running the Big Five Invitational.

Vaughn had resurrected the event, elevating it from the tournament Quinn remembered playing as a senior at Temple in 1990, when it was essentially an afterthought.

Quinn did not hesitate accepting Vaughn's offer. Then he had a few ideas of his own.

"We want to have a premier national event with that Big Five historical touch in there," Quinn said.

It's a lofty goal, but the way Quinn talks, he almost expects it. Sitting on the porch of the clubhouse at the Wissahickon course at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, Quinn points to the pristine fairways at one of the nation's oldest country clubs. Playing on this course, he says, can only improve the field.

"In this region, we have the ability to have such a wonderful golf tournament," Quinn said.

After the first day of play, Temple and Drexel were tied for the Big Five lead. Overall, the University of Richmond has a 4-stroke lead over Campbell University. Campbell's Zak Drescher had the best round, firing a 4-under 67. The tournament will conclude with another 18 holes today.

This is the eighth year that the invitational has been played at Philadelphia Cricket Club. Big Five officials have researched the tournament's history but cannot determine how many years the city's teams have been playing for a golf championship.

But that's the past, Quinn said. His task now is to make the tournament bigger and better.

"We always thought it would make sense to do it," said Paul Rubincam, a former executive director of the Big Five and a current member of Philadelphia Cricket Club. Rubincam and Vaughn were instrumental in persuading the club to donate the course for an entire weekend.

"That's our biggest draw," Quinn said.

That has attracted some higher-level squads, but nothing like what Quinn envisions. This weekend's tournament has five teams ranked in the top 150 of the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin Division I poll. None is ranked higher than 80th.

Rubincam said the challenge of attracting more big-time schools is that they won't come unless the competition is worthwhile. Quinn said he had already secured commitments from Northwestern and Rhode Island, two perennially ranked teams, for next season's tournament.

This year's Big Five Invitational has 17 teams. Next year's field could have 21, Quinn said.

For the city schools, not typically among college golf's elite, the chance to play on a historic course against top-flight competition makes the event special.

"It's probably the one we look forward to the most," said St. Joseph's coach Frank Darby, now in his 20th year.

And it's also one of the rare times that the Big Five schools (plus Drexel) can play a tournament close to home. Last year's individual champion, Villanova's Brendan Kelly, said everyone looks forward to playing the course.

"It's a big one for us," said Kelly, who shot an 8-over 79 yesterday. "To have the city schools, it's a big deal. But it's also how well-run the tournament is."

And that's what Quinn is banking on in his quest to expand the Big Five Invitational.

"We played some tournaments in college that I still remember today," Quinn said. "And I want any kid who played at the Big Five Invitational to say, 'That was a great memory.' If you can give that to a kid and they have that for the rest of their life, you know it's a special tournament."

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