The men’s golf team at GCSU began their season on Monday, Sept. 9 at the Bearcat Fall Invitational hosted by Lander University. After a two-day campaign with two 18-hole rounds on Monday and one 18-hole round on Tuesday morning, the team ranked 18 out of 19 schools with 34 points over par.
GCSU had five golfers from the 14-player roster at the golf course in South Carolina last week. To play a match, the golfers must compete in a 36-hole game a few days before the actual tournament.
Browning Benton, a junior geography major, was GCSU’s top scorer placing and tied number 64 out of 104 competitors. He scored the lowest with his scorecard totalling 79 points.
Billy Goddard, a fifth-year GCSU golf player and junior information data analytics major, placed and tied for number 70 and scored a total of 80 points.
A fifth GCSU golfer, Chase Blanton, is a sophomore exercise science major, and he placed and tied number 84 with a total of 86 points on the scorecard.
After the first 18 holes, the men’s team tied for 11th among South Eastern teams with below 300 in both rounds. The team achieved par (288) in the second round for the team score.
“We’ve been trying to put ourselves into more competitive situations so we’re a little bit more comfortable when that third round comes,” Goddard said.
Goddard and many others were very happy about their placements after GCSU’s first day.
The next day, morale was low, as the team struggled to meet their results from the previous round.
Tyler Darsey, a junior majoring in management information systems, placed 89 with a total of 88 points. Jackson Ellerbee, a third-year finance major, tied for number 97 on the tournament score with 94 points.
“That’s probably the biggest problem,” Darsey said. “If you don’t do good the first round, for me, it’s like really hard to get shot back into it and play good that second round.”
Darsey went on to say that consistency throughout a game and keeping mental stability is what determines a good D2 college golfer. If that mental game improves, he believes that some of the golfers and himself would greatly benefit from that.
“Even though the result isn’t what we wanted, part of the progress in that result was there,” said Head Coach Wendell Staton.
The coach had said that part of the reason for the downhill trend Monday evening was because of the pressure stemming from the golf team’s great position after the first round.
The lead that the team made on Monday was lost, but the momentum was definitely there. If they can keep their morale consistent and spirits high throughout the upcoming tournament at The Chattahoochee Golf Club on Sept. 23, the team has a very good chance to excel and learn from their previous shortcomings.
