California Baptist University’s men’s and women’s golf teams started their spring season Feb. 11.
With men finishing fourth at The Farms Intercolligiate in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and the women finishing seventh at the Battle of the Rock tournament in Riverside.
“That was probably the best tournament we have had in the Division I era,” said TL Brown, head coach of the men’s golf team. “We could have done better than fourth, but it was nice to see the guys rally back from a poor round and it was nice to see the team hang in there and keep striving to play for one another.”
Sunny Wang, senior business administration major, said the women’s team found room to improve after its first golf tournament.
“We had a really bad first round,” Wang said. “We had high expectations coming into the spring season and this result is not that good. We finished seventh when we wanted to be in the top three.”
However, Marc Machado, head coach of women’s golf, said he is proud of everything the team has accomplished in its first DI year.
“The spring season has started off with a lot of learning experiences. We have learned a lot about ourselves and our mental toughness,” Machado said. “Our mindset is the same as last semester, heading into this spring semester. We are going to do everything we can to put the team first.”
Brown said the men’s team is looking great, but there are improvements that can be made by each golfer to win individually and also benefit the entire Lancers team.
“For Ben Hallam (senior business entrepreneurship major), this is his last semester of college golf. He wants a college win,” Brown said. “Ryan Monsalve (sophomore undeclared major) tends to give us two out of three really good rounds, but for him to win as an individual he needs to win all three rounds.”
Brown said aside from helping the team, the golfers also want to be in a position to be a champion. He said the key to the team’s success this season is to improve the mental aspect of the game.
“The teams that are beating us (in The Farms Intercollegiate) probably aren’t more talented than us, but they are just a little stronger emotionally,” Brown said.
Brown said mental preparation is crucial.
“You have to hang in there for 12 hours on the first day and another five hours on the second day,” Brown said. “Sometimes, it’s more mental than it is physical, not making mistakes and staying in the moment are key.”
If the team can improve that aspect of the game, Brown said the team will grow even more.
The women’s team will head to Utah March 14 and the men will head to San Fransisco March 11 for their next tournaments.
