By Rob Wakeling
Associate Head Coach
We have learned in the first two tournaments of the spring that we are going to rely heavily on Corey Conners and Taylor Pendrith at the No. 1 and 2 spots. When you look at last week at Coastal Carolina, those two finished first and third on the individual leaderboard.
The rest of the lineup had some good rounds at opportune times. There were also some struggles, but Kyle Kmiecik shot 2-under in round two, which really bailed us out. Sebastian Bendsen held us in there the first day with a 74 while Kyle struggled a little bit, and then Kody Fry stepped up on the last day with a 73.
We kind of pieced it together bit by bit and had a heck of a chance coming down the last few holes. That was a good learning experience having to deal with so many good things and frustrating things down the stretch. But standing on the 17th and 18th tees with a chance to win is what you want. There is no substitute for being in that position and having the chance to learn from it. I think we learned some important things from that experience, but we also learned that we need to keep getting better.
We’ve had a great week of practice since returning from Coastal Carolina and the General Hackler Championship. We’ve been working hard and using the technology we have at the Ferrara and Page Golf Training and Learning Center. We’ve had everyone on TrackMan and on the SAMputt Lab working on the technical parts of their swings and putting strokes.
On Monday we were finally able to get outside and chip and putt a few on the grass. It’s the first time we’ve been outside here in Ohio all spring. Thank goodness we have as great a facility as we have to allow us to stay sharp and keep improving during the cold weather.
I think you will see us use all seven or eight healthy bodies at some point this spring. That’s what the spring is all about – figuring out what five guys will tee it up at the Mid-American Conference Championships and at the NCAA Regionals.
We’ve been a little lucky, thanks to the change of NCAA rules, the last two tournaments have been played on Monday Tuesday, so we’ve been able to leave on Friday and not have our guys miss any class. That has allowed us to have our qualifiers on the road.
We are getting ready to leave for Florida for Spring Break and to compete at the Floridian Collegiate at Floridian Golf Club in Palm CIty. We’ll leave on Friday and take all eight players with us.
On Friday we will play at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie. On Saturday we will play at the Fox Club in Stewart and we may have an 18-hole qualifier that day. Sunday is a tournament practice round and then Monday and Tuesday is the Floridian Collegiate.
When the tournament ends, we’ll play some great courses over spring break – Trump National, Atlantis Country Club and Lake Nona.
It’s going to be a fabulous spring trip. And then we’ll have a quick turnaround. We get back and have three days at home before we take off for Texas A&M.
CHECK OUT...
Bob Weeks' blog from Mar. 17 "Page has Canadian touch at Kent State."
It's a good read. Here's the link.
CHECK OUT...
Bob Weeks' blog from Mar. 17 "Page has Canadian touch at Kent State."
It's a good read. Here's the link.
