Troy University Athletics
Beginning of the End
2/6/2009 6:00:00 AM | Golf
As we start up another semester of competitive golf, it comes as very bittersweet moment.
For Michael McGrady, Wes Parker, Jake Brodhead, Danielle Skipper and myself, this is the last semester for us as a part of the Trojan Golf team. I think it is beginning to set in with all of us because we often find ourselves talking about ending our careers with no regrets.
In saying that though, we are very excited about the up and coming semester because, collectively, this is our best semester of tournaments in our tenure at Troy.
We will begin our "championship" run this weekend in New Orleans, La., at the TPC of Louisiana for the Mardi Gras Invitational. The five players are very anxious to get going because our practices have yet again been going very smoothly.
Our five players consist of McGrady (#1), myself (#2), Chase Whitehead (#3), Rourke Van Der Spuy (#4) and Wes Parker (#5).
Another reason we are very excited about the season is the off-season acquisition of our new assistant coach, Simmi Masson. He's quite possibly the most "golf intelligent" person any of us has ever been around. He has spent time with each and every one of us, working with us on the one major thing we individually need to improve on.
We've added new practice routines to our daily schedule and we have started meeting five nights a week for a collective study session. We feel this is making us closer than we already were and, although it's an individual sport, we are continually building more and more trust in one another.
Not to mention, us "real athletes!" still work out four times a week!!
McGrady is by far our No. 1 player right now. He's regained his form from a year ago and is ready to make a push to be one of the best players in the country again. Chase Whitehead has definitely been the most impressive player up to this point for us though. He's gaining more and more confidence every day and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him in contention at New Orleans.
Rourke has been progressively getting better since the first day he set foot at Troy. His swing is as pure as ever and his competitive fire is starting to show more often, which is a real good thing!
And then there's Wes. He has the best short game in the conference and best putting stroke in the country in my opinion. If his ball striking is on, he's capable of not only winning tournaments but dominating them.
As for myself, it's the same story as always. If the flat stick wakes up, then things might get interesting!
As a team, I don't think we can get to New Orleans fast enough. We want to go down there and show everyone that we are definitely an early contender for a Sun Belt title!!
GO TROJANS!!!
Jay