The Cardinals golf team finished fifth out of eleven teams at the SVSU Spring Invitational, held in Florence, Ky.
Eight golfers traveled to the Boone Links Golf Course to compete in last Saturday and Sunday’s tournament, which was put on by SVSU head coach Joe Vogl.
The golf team partakes in what Vogl calls a “true split season,” with half of the tournaments in the fall and the other half in the spring.
The team has to be somewhere in the top ten teams within the region to advance to the Super Regional meet. After the completion of the fall portion of the season, the team was ranked fifth out of 37 teams within its region.
According to Vogl, the third and fourth tournaments are the big ones where success is a must. Both tournaments bring in more than 30 teams. For tournaments of that caliber, typically only five golfers from each team are allowed to travel. After the two-day tournament is complete, four of the best scores from each team are added together and compared to the scores of all other teams, with the lowest combined score determined as the winner.
Because of weather constraints, Vogl said competing in tournaments down south is important.
“The weather in Michigan during March and April is too unpredictable for us to schedule any golf tournaments around here. Courses won’t open for a couple more weeks at best,” he said. “Through the years during March and April, we have had decent success with the weather by traveling to Kentucky or Southern Indiana to play.”
Vogl said that the golf team does quite a bit of travel throughout its season, ranging between four to six-and-a-half-hour commutes. However, traveling this much is not unusual for the golf team.
Members of the team recognize the strain travel puts on their mental state, but they’re confident in their abilities to overcome it.
“Golf is a very difficult sport in the Midwest region, especially with the weather we have been dealing with. As a team, we are on the road every weekend playing tournaments and more than likely won’t be able to play on our home course until the end of the season,” said fourth year team captain Adam Hansen.
“It truly is a mental grind to play tournaments every weekend as well as dealing with the stress of classes. It takes a lot of focus and mental toughness to not get burned out. However, I feel that everyone on this team holds these qualities.”
The team has its eyes set on Super Regionals.
“The major goals for the team this spring consist of proving to ourselves and the rest of the country that we have one of the top golf teams, and that we qualify for Super Regionals and Nationals,” said third year team member Wyatt Drost.
In addition to the members of the golf team, Vogl is optimistic in the team and its capabilities for the remainder of the season.
“We’re in good shape from the fall, and I expect us to pick up where we left off,” Vogl said.