Two years ago, Mississippi State head men’s golf coach Clay Homan led his predominantly youthful, inexperienced Bulldog golfers to the SEC Tournament at St. Simons Island, Ga.That tournament, along with last season’s disappointing outing, proved to be a learning experience for the team as it matured.
Today the team, which now features a majority of juniors and is a team he labeled as the most talented Bulldog squad since 2000, will begin play in the 2008 SEC Men’s Golf Tournament at that same location.
And this time, the expectations are significantly higher.
“It is a pretty veteran ballclub, so they have all been through this before,” Homan said. “They should play with a lot of confidence and a sense that they belong. I’m optimistic that if we play like we are capable of playing, then we’ll be happy with the results.”
The fifth-year head coach was satisfied with his team’s results at the start of the season last fall and into the early portions of the spring. In its first seven tournaments, the team boasted six top-five finishes. That included an overall first-place team victory at the Roadrunner Intercollegiate Tournament in late February when the team teed off with 16 other teams.
But the team hit a snag during the middle of the spring, finishing in last place at the Seminole Intercollegiate tournament and next-to-last at the Linger Longer Invitational.
Even when the rough times came, junior Noah Goldman said the team didn’t dwell on them.
“We have really just been building off each tournament,” Goldman said. “Even in our bad tournaments, we have seen how we can improve and build off it.”
The All-SEC candidate did that by finishing the ensuing tournament with an overall fourth-place individual finish and assisted in giving the team the same place to end the tournament.
He will be seeking that same effort when the team tees off today.
“It’s going to be tough,” Goldman said. “We will have to put it together really well to compete with teams like that, but I know we have the potential to do it.”
On the opposite side, the Mississippi State women’s golf team will travel to Loudon, Tenn. to take part in its SEC Tournament, which also begins today and lasts through Sunday.
The women’s squad has also had some rough patches during its season, but it has rebounded nicely from a rough stretch earlier this spring and hopes to make a splash at the SEC tournament.
In its previous tournament at the Canes and Cardinal Classic in Miami, Fla., the team captured an 11th-place finish.
Perhaps the most impressive feat was the final round 264, which was shot by the team in the final round of that tournament. The score was the best round by a Lady Bulldog team since 2005.
Freshman Erika Thornton assisted the team in making that score by shooting a career-best 18-hole round with a score of 71.
“Erika played the best I have seen her play this year in the final round,” head coach Christi Sanders said in a press release after the tournament. “The rest of the team played solid and we need to do that more often … We finished on a nice note and it gets us excited heading into the SEC Championship.