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Taking
it one hole at a time
Golf
team prepares to compete in Florida for championship
The
Frogs are ready to take their fourth consecutive conference
title.
Matt
Looloian
Three
consecutive conference championships are impressive, but
the men’s golf team won’t be satisfied until
they bring home a fourth.
The Frogs will take their shot at a 4-peat in the Conference
USA Men’s Golf Championship April 19-21. South Florida
will host the three-day tournament at Lake Jovita Golf
and Country Club in Dade City, Fla.
Coach Bill Montigel said he and the team are ready for
the challenge ahead.
“We’ve got five guys who’ve worked hard
all year, get along and have great attitudes,” he
said. “Any of the five are capable of winning the
tournament, and if all five are competing for the title,
the team will be in great shape.”
TCU won the C-USA conference tournament in both 2003 and
2002 and won the Western Athletic Conference tournament
in 2001.
The Frogs are currently ranked 10th in the nation. They
are the only C-USA team ranked in the top 50.
Despite being defending champions and having the highest
rank in the conference, the Frogs are approaching the
championship just like any other tournament.
“We’re going to take it one shot at a time and
see what happens,” Montigel said.
The five golfers representing the Frogs are seniors, Adam
Meyer and Stephen Polanski; juniors, J.J. Killeen and
David Schultz; and sophomore, Colby Beckstrom. Montigel
said these five give the team its best chance for success.
One thing the Frogs will bring to the tournament is experience.
Four of the five golfers played for the team in last season’s
C-USA championship.
Meyer, individually ranked 26th in the nation, was last
year’s runner-up in the conference tournament. He
is confident the team can bring home another title.
“As long as we play good golf, there’s no reason
why we shouldn’t win,” Meyer said.
Beckstrom, who placed 18th in last year’s championship,
is presently ranked 60th individually. He agrees that
the team has a great shot to defend the title again.
“We’ll play as good as we can and see how it
goes,” Beckstrom said. “I think we’re gonna
be all right.”
Killeen and Schultz also propelled the Frogs to their
win in last year’s tournament. Killeen placed 13th
and Schultz placed 21st.
Approaching the tournament, Montigel adopted a philosophy
from famed UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. Montigel
said Wooden never worried about the competition, but only
tried to prepare his own players as best he could.
“We’ve tried not to worry about the opposition
and just worry about ourselves,” he said. “I’m
hoping every one of our guys plays to the best of his
ability.”
Depending on how the Frogs perform at the conference championship,
they can gain a higher national ranking. One of the team’s
pre-season goals was to finish the season ranked in the
top 10.
“We have to play extremely well from this point forward,”
Montigel said.
The Frogs have already earned a spot in the NCAA Central
Regional May 20-22. This year will mark the 15th consecutive
season the team has reached the regional tournament. If
they play well at regionals, they can advance to the NCAA
Championships June 1-4.
Montigel and his team leave for Florida Saturday. After
a practice round Sunday, they play 18 holes a day, Monday
through Wednesday. Although they are prepared, they acknowledge
the task ahead of them is a difficult one.
“I feel good about it and they feel good about it,”
Montigel said. “But golf is a funny game; you never
know.” |
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Courtesy
of Media Relations
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| Senior
Adam Meyer, individually ranked 26th in the nation,
will be one of five golfers representing TCU next
week at the Conference USA Men’s Golf Championship. |
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