Both of Columbia’s golf teams will be in action this weekend. The men’s team will be playing in the St. John’s Invitational, while on the women’s side will head to Princeton, N.J., for the Princeton Invitational.

This will be the second event of the fall schedule for the Columbia men’s team, after having finished 11th out of 13 teams last weekend at the Hartford Invitational in Connecticut. Last season, the Lions beat out Ivy rivals Harvard, Penn, and Princeton en route to a ninth place finish overall. Columbia was paced by Chris Condello, who posted a 218 over the 54 holes. The St. John’s Invitational, also known as the McLaughlin, will be played as usual on the 6,685-yard Red Course at Bethpage in Farmingdale, N.Y.
The Lions will be without defending Ivy League champion Condello who decided to turn pro just before the beginning of the 2007 academic year.

Of particular note is the Red Storm’s third-place finish last weekend in Hartford, which included a solid individual win by senior co-captain Keegan Bradley. The field will be 15 deep, consisting of schools such as UConn, Creighton, Drexel, George Washington, Hofstra, and Temple. All of last year’s Ivies are returning as well.

On the women’s side, the team is coming off a rough debut at the Ron Moore Invitational. The selective tournament was played at Highlands Ranch Golf Club’s 6,518-yard, par-72 course in Littleton, Colo. Columbia finished last out of 18 teams with a cumulative total of 957 (+93) for the 54-hole event.

Host University of Denver took the top prize with an unquestionable nine-stroke margin ahead of Baylor. This upcoming Saturday, the Lions will travel to the Springdale Golf Club, where all the other Ivies will be joining them in the 14-team field.

Play begins at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday for the men’s team, while the women’s team will tee off at 9:21 a.m. on Saturday.