Trojans Looking to Bounce Back

The Troy University men's golf teams is hoping to turn the page on their season-opening performance and bounce back this weekend when they compete in the Louisiana Tech/Squire Creek Intercollegiate in Choudrant, La.

The Trojans finished last in a 15-team tournament at Southern Miss to open the fall schedule, and have had two weeks to think about that effort and work to improve in preparation for their second event, which will open with 36-holes of play on Monday and conclude with 18 holes on Tuesday.

To make that needed improvement, the Trojans will have to play with some attitude in a tournament that has not been kind to the team in the past. Troy finished last, 66 shots behind UNO, at Squire Creek last year.

“Their backs are against the wall,” Trojans coach Matt Terry said. “They finished last in their last event and there is no where to go but up. They have to play with a chip on their shoulders, and they should play with a chip on their shoulders.

“The guys are real excited to head over there. They are extremely disappointed in the way they played and handled themselves in Hattiesburg. Once they get on the course on Monday they will get back into it.”

The Trojans will face a difficult test at Squire Creek Country Club. The course is a par 72 that will play to 7,105 yards and features greens that are difficult to attack.

“The course is really good,” Terry said. “It is a Tom Fazio design with difficult green complexes. It is pretty simple tee-to-green, but the guys are going to have to be really on their games hitting into the greens. If they are not, they are going to have to chip and putt very well.”

The Troy squad for this event will feature a pair of players who were not on hand for the season opening tournament at Southern Miss. Senior Hunter Harper will make his season debut as will freshman Kyle Thommesen.

They will be joined by senior Zach Portemont, sophomore Kyle Blackston and junior Bain Hanning. Only Blackston was on the squad last year for the tournament at Squire Creek.

“We are really excited because we will have two new faces in the lineup for this tournament,” Terry said. “Hunter Harper, a senior transfer from Columbus State, gets back into the lineup and Kyle Thommesen, a left-handed freshman from Auburn who played at Lee-Scott Academy will get his first chance.

“We'll have two Kyles (Kyle Blackston) and two left-handers in the lineup. We are looking continued good play from Zach Portemont, who tied the course record at Troy Country Club last week while preparing from this tournament.”

The Trojans will face a tournament field that includes Sun Belt foe Arkansas State as well as in-state rival Jacksonville State. Southeastern Louisiana and Southern Miss will also be in the field along with the host team from Louisiana Tech, Houston Baptist, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Rice, Sam Houston State and Missouri-Kansas City. SEC power LSU will have individual entries in the tournament, but will not compete as a team.

“The course will be longer than what we played in Hattiesburg and the tournament has a good field,” Terry said. “We always want to beat conference foes and we always want to beat those guys from Jacksonville State.

“To have success, we have to hit the ball better, period. The ball has to be struck better, put in the fairway more often, and they have to make more putts. The biggest thing is that they have to believe in themselves.”

Troy University Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos