Perfect. Well, almost. The GW golf team finished out their storybook fall 2005 season, arguably their best since the 1940s, in perfect fashion. The Colonials carded a 576 to finish tied for second Monday in the Old Dominion University Seascape Invitational in Kitty Hawk, N.C.

“We were very happy,” coach Scott Allen said in a phone interview on Wednesday. “This is traditionally an event we’ve been overmatched in. We beat four or five teams from our region. It was great because going into the final round we were 12 shots behind Liberty. We came from behind and played great (on the final day).”

The finish left them tied with Kennesaw State, only six strokes off the lead. Elon University finished two strokes behind, followed by Radford University in fifth place. Old Dominion won the tournament.

Following trend, senior Brian Carroll led the Colonials’ attack. The Illinois native carded 70 and 69 to finish three under par for the tournament, only two strokes off the pace of medal winner Scott Marino of James Madison. Carroll finished two strokes ahead of four third place winners.

Senior Andrew Gallo carded a one-over-par 143 (71-72) to finish tied for 12th place. The Ontario, Canada, native has averaged a 74.6 this season, carding a low round of 68 at the Penn/Big Five Invitational.

Sophomore Tim Johnson, the team’s second best performer this fall, tied for 26th with a 146 (76-70). Johnson has broken 70 this fall, a 68 at the Joe Agee Invitational.

“We are about half way done for our season and we’re in good shape up,” Allen said. “Now we have to wrap it up.”

After a great performance, the squad has some time off until January.

“We take November off to hit the books and condition,” Allen said. “Once school starts up in the spring we go to the heated driving range. If the weather is nice, we’ll get out onto the course.”

The team gets back to team action in the spring with the William and Mary Colonial Invitational on March 20-21. The Colonials will then host the GW Invitational, in Bethany Beach, Del., on April 1-2. The Colonials tied for second in their tournament last year.

The challenging part of the schedule starts on April 8-9 at the Navy Spring Invitational in Annapolis, Md., followed by the Princeton Invitational in Princeton, N.J., from April 14-15. The Colonials won the tournament last season.

Penn State will host the Rutherford Intercollegiate on April 22-23 in State College, Pa. This tournament may be decisive, as the Colonials will be looking for a bid into the NCAA tournament.

If they do not receive an at-large bid, the Colonials will need to win the Atlantic 10 tournament in Orlando, Fla., held from May 5-7.

Allen said that unlike years before, this year his squad is in control of their performance.

“It kind of lays things out,” Allen said. “We are in the driver’s seat now. The fall ranking will come out around Thanksgiving. We will be first, second or third. We get four spots. We need to make sure we need to beat teams we beat in the fall. Last year we were the team that needed to catch up. We had a shaky fall last year and we had a great spring but not great enough.”