AUGUSTA, Ga. – After competing in four tournaments in the fall, the men’s golf team starts the spring portion of their schedule in Charleston, S.C. at the Battle at Briar’s Creek. The tournament hosted by the College of Charleston Feb. 3-4 with 36 holes on Monday and the final 18 on Tuesday.
The Jaguars best finish in the fall was at the Bearcat Invitational in Cincinnati, Oh. with a seventh place finish as a team. Stefan Jacobs was fifth on the individual side.
Coach Steven Paine indicated there were some areas of play that needed to be addressed between the fall and spring seasons and is looking forward to see the adjustments the players have made.
“There was definitely a lot of adjusting and learning and we’ve had some time to implement those things and put them in place so I’m excited to see how that plays out the first few weeks in the spring,” said Paine.
The team saw several different faces in the lineup as Paine tried to find the right combination. Some of them are seeing college tournament golf for the first time and there’s been an adjustment period.
“I think the main thing has been damage control. If a lot of the guys can just minimize their mistakes, that’s going to help us a lot,” added Paine.
Besides Jacobs, Bo Blanchard II came on strong in the later part of the fall. Blanchard, who transferred from Mississippi State, had been battling an injury, but responded with a 19th place finish at The Williams Cup in North Carolina in late October.
While some of the top spots in the lineup are pretty much set, there are still several golfers vying to compete on a regular basis in the six tournaments scheduled for this spring.
“The great thing is just competition,” said Paine. “Competition builds excellence so just seeing the guys in qualifying, that goes a long way.”