Cedarville University Yellow Jackets

April 27, 2017    

Final Golf Blog

Jacket Fans,

This week we took a short drive to Mason, Ohio to compete in the G-MAC Championship at Four Bridges Country Club. We’ve faced some adversity in the past (I still try and block out some of those memories), but felt confident about our chances this week.

We actually got to sleep in for once and left campus at 10 a.m. on Sunday. After a quick pit stop at Chipotle (and a rousing discussion about my dream home that includes both a driving and firing range), we headed to the course for our practice round.

Four Bridges Country Club is a fairly short course that rewards accurate players. With trouble on nearly every hole (for the seasoned readers of the blog, we made sure to look at the pond left of hole 9 and it was marked as hazard and NOT in course out of bounds), it is imperative to leave yourself in good spots off the tee. The rough can be nasty in some spots and the greens are some of the quickest we play all year. However, many of the pin locations are set up to reward good approach shots so birdies can definitely be had.

After our practice round we headed back to the hotel and went to the conference banquet. Coach Bowen gave an awe-inspiring speech when he talked about our season and how we almost fired him after winning the NCCAA qualifier in the fall without him there. We all received a very nice coin from the G-MAC that would make a great display piece or a ball mark. However, that thing was harder to open than a Chick-fil-A on Sunday so most players will probably just leave it in the case.

We had a fantastic fan turnout for this one. Almost every Jacket had some sort of fan support on the course. We are very appreciative for the Holt, Reese, and Ehms families who made the trip to watch us play and for the prayer support we received from all other fans. You guys mean so much to us and we appreciate giving up your time to watch us play.

After a great night’s rest and a fantastic hotel breakfast (the Embassy Suites don’t mess around when it comes to breakfast), we headed to the course for our marathon day. Day 1 at G-MAC is always 36 holes the first day and it is really easy for the mental game to suffer, but the weather was fantastic so that helped out a lot. The sun was shining all day (look at Carter’s lobster legs if you don’t believe me) and the wind was blowing but it wasn’t anything too crazy.

Jordan started out hot shooting 33 on his first 9 but struggled coming home and posted a 74. Crash Ehms played fantastic and carded a solid 73. I brought home a 76 and Jared rounded us out with an 82. Each group grabbed a box lunch and went straight to hole 1 after finishing their first round.

Jordan birdied 4 out of 5 holes on his back 9 to shoot a 73. Jenny and Crash both shot 42-36 for a pair of 78’s. John anchored our four with an 81. This gave us a two round total of 615. We were 19 shots back after Day 1 which was not an impossible task by any means.

Many of our fans joined us at City Barbeque after our round. Some Jackets were unsure of what to get (I mean come on guys, it’s a BBQ place it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out what to order). Tales of the two rounds of the day swirled around the table. We mostly talked about funny stories regarding our playing partners that included broken clubs, a pre-shot routine that made father time himself impatient, and just overall tomfoolery.

Day 2 brought the same nice weather as the day before. Sunshine and fairly clear skies dominated the day. I have to say; it was nice to have wonderful weather for my last collegiate round. A 9:00 a.m. shotgun start awaited us. After a quick warm-up and some prayer from some fans, we set out for the day.

The Magician started out hot with birdies on 3 out of his first 5 holes. However, an unfortunate ruling (this place really hates our team when it comes to rules) derailed Jordan’s round and he finished with a 79. The three amigos (Jared, Carter, and I) all brought home 75’s. That gave us a final round 304. Unfortunately, we fell a little short this time around and we finished in 3rd. Carter and Jordan both finished with G-MAC First Team honors with a T5th finish. Coach Bowen decided we need something sweet on the way home so we grabbed some milkshakes at Chick-fil-A before heading back to campus.


Time to get a little real here folks…

Time is a cruel mistress who waits on no man. I remember my first-ever hole of collegiate golf almost four years ago just like it was yesterday. It’s hard to think that my college golf career is done. It kind of feels like the little kid who never wants to go home from the playground. But I can’t leave without thanking a few groups of people first.

To my family who have supported me throughout my life in my dream of playing college golf, I thank you. To the coaches (all three of you) who have been there for every step of my college career, I thank you. To the fans who have come out to support us at our tournaments, I thank you. These four years have been some of the best years of my life and I have memories that I will never forget. Lastly to my team…I could not have asked for a better group of men to compete alongside with. You have created memories that will last a lifetime. For those who still get to play in the coming years, enjoy the journey. You don’t realize how special the practices are until you realize you don’t get to have them anymore. Enjoy the moments and continually better yourselves both as a player and a man of God. Make it a point to help better those around you. Stay positive, work on your short game (it’s not like you don’t have a great short game facility to practice at or anything like that), and listen to Coach Bowen (the dude knows what he’s talking about).

To John and Jeremy…We seniors have done everything we can this last year to lead our team. I couldn’t have done it without either of you. I know that both of you will go on to do great things in life and I thank you for leading this team alongside of me.

Well, if you’ve made it this far without choking up then you’ve done better than I have. It’s been an honor being your blog writer for the year and I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey we’ve taken this year. A little bird told me Coach Bowen has been hard at work behind the scenes recruiting and that you guys can expect some new faces next year. I know for sure the team will see success in the coming years.

Onward and outward boys,

Taylor Holt


Quotes of the week

"You lose a bet Carter?" - Coach Bowen after Carter shows up to the van with SIGNIFICANTLY less hair on his head

"Wow that was epic" - Everyone after every drive Jared hit with his new driver

"Wow Jared that really puts it into perspective" - Coach Reese

"So there’s the master bedroom and then a garage door" Jenny "Wait what?" Jeremy and Carter


QUOTE OF THE YEAR

"MEDIOCRE AT BEST" - The one and only Hayden James


April 20, 2017

Jacket Fans,

This week we had a little friendly competition to get ourselves ready for the G-MAC Championship next week. Coach Bowen smartly decided to get a match play competition going to keep our games sharp.

We were split up into two teams with the "J" Team and the "Other letters" team. The "J" team (what an original name!) consisted of Jared, Jordan, John, and Jake. The "Other Letters" team had Jenny, Jeremy, Carter, and Hayden. Each team was to play an 18-hole match play on Tuesday. A match win would grant your team a point and the winning team gets the satisfaction of beating the other team as a prize.

The matches were: Jordan vs. Jenny, Jared vs. Jeremy, John vs. Carter, and Jake vs. Hayden.

Jordan and I battled ferociously and we needed a playoff hole to decide the match with me winning on the 19th hole to snatch the point for my team. Jake must’ve talked nice to his putter before the round because he made everything he looked at and beat Hayden 5 & 3. John beat Carter 2 up and Jared edged out Jeremy in a close match. Unfortunately, this means the "J" team won 3-1.

After a range practice session on Wednesday we hung out with Team Chaplain Nick Boucher (who has surprised us with how well he’s picking up on golf lingo) and continued our study on Philippians 4:8. This week, we focused on things that are excellent and how a focus on excellent things impacts our lives as followers of Christ. Nick has done a great job this year leading us through Philippians and he’s been a real encouragement to all of us.

We had some great practices this week and we are feeling great about G-MAC here in a few days. We know the course pretty well and have had some great rounds in the past. On Sunday, we’ll cram into the van and take the short drive to Mason, Ohio. I know that we’ll compete well and have a great chance to bring home the hardware!

See you next week!

Quotes of the Week:

"John’s not here so we’ll actually get something done tonight" - Nick Boucher

"He’s made like three in a row! Give me a break!" - Hayden James after Jake sinks yet another long putt


April 12, 2017

Jacket Fans,

This week, we enjoyed a lovely time at Purgatory for the NCAA MW Regional #4. This was a big event with 28 teams and a good finish here can build a lot of confidence and momentum for us heading into the G-MAC Tournament here in a few weeks.

I’ve had the pleasure of going to Purgatory for four years now and I have to say, it’s starting to grow on me. Well known for its abysmal weather (there were ice chips on the tee boxes last year during a practice round because it was so cold), Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Indiana is a links-style golf course (think no trees, plenty of hills, and thick fescue grass) with undulating greens that are smooth and very fast. The layout of the course lends itself to long hitters off the tee as you can spray your tee shot and get away with it, however, accuracy players can shoot really low if they can leave their approach shots in the right spots on the greens.

Per our usual routine, we crammed into the van and started our journey to Purgatory. After a quick stop at Wendy’s, we arrived at the course. The practice round had fantastic weather, and we were able to get a solid game plan put together for how we wanted to attack the course. We then headed to a former CU Golf Alum’s home and enjoyed dinner and watching The Masters with him and his family.
A late tee time on Day 1 meant we were able to catch the morning service at College Park Church. We heard a great message on suffering for righteousness and then headed to the course. Despite wind gusts up to 30 MPH, it was still fairly warm on the course. John Sandlas played smart golf on Day 1 and carded a 76. Jenny followed it up with a 77. Jordan struggled a bit and posted an 80 and Crash rounded us out with an 82. A 315 put us in 22nd. While not ideal, we played when the wind was strongest on the day and felt like we had a good chance for a good round the next day to vault us up the leader board. We spent the remainder of the night at O’Charleys watching Sergio Garcia win his first Masters in spectacular fashion in a playoff.

We had an early morning tee time on Day 2 so we were going to miss the bad weather that was supposed to hit later in the afternoon. Some of us weren’t able to take advantage of the nicer morning weather, but one Jacket was able to do something pretty special. Jordan must’ve put something in his breakfast the morning of Day 2 because he was on fire. He tore through Purgatory firing an amazing 67. His 67 ties the CU record for lowest individual score ever. Jenny followed him up with another 77 and the three amigos (John, Jeremy, and Carter) all shot 82’s.

Nobody else could match our 308 in the morning wave and we moved quite high up the leader board. We stopped at Firehouse for a quick meal and headed home. Once we got home, we heard that the afternoon wave (the teams who were in the lead after Day 1) were in a weather delay. After a few hours passed, Coach Bowen received word that Day 2 had been canceled because all of the teams were unable to finish because of the weather. This means that all Day 2 scores (including Jordan’s 67) were wiped away and only Day 1 scores would count for the competition.

While it’s a big bummer that his 67 didn’t count, we can still build some major confidence from Purgatory. Hopefully, the weather at the G-MAC Tournament will be nice so we don’t have to worry about playing in strong winds.

This week, you can find us on our range and at the #ReeseCountryClub prepping our games. We do have Easter break off from practice and will be celebrating our Risen King. We also have an inter-squad competition planned for our week off from tournament play next week, so you can expect to hear all about who wins next week.

See you then!

Quotes of the week:

"Yeet Yeet!" – Jordan Reese for some unexplainable reason

"That’s what happens when you get married at 7 John"- Jeremy Royer

"Coach can we go now? I don’t want to spend more time in Purgatory than I have to"- Unknown


April 6, 2017

Jacket Fans,

This week your CU Men’s Golf Team was in the Music City playing in the NCAA Midwest Regional #3 at Hermitage Golf Club. We were still riding the confidence off of our win last week and felt really good about our chances this week. After a Mickey D’s stop and a lunch at Cracker Barrel (which included unfortunate contact between some syrup and Jeremy’s WHITE golf shirt), we headed to the course.

Near perfect weather graced our practice round. The course was in fantastic condition with smooth and speedy greens. Hermitage is a fairly short golf course and rewards smart plays into the greens. If you leave your ball above the hole, then you can expect a very speedy putt that will be hard to get close. John did his research and had yardages to most parts of the golf course so he was known as "Sky caddie" for the day. (Note: a Sky caddie is a GPS device that tells you yardages)

After the practice round we were able to spend the evening with a CU alumni. Dan Atkeson and his family welcomed us into their home and we enjoyed sharing a meal and spending time with them. Mrs. Atkeson made some fantastic pasta and we truly enjoyed their hospitality.

Day 1 had rain early in the day, but thankfully our tee time was in the afternoon so we were able to avoid most of it. It was a little breezy, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle. The Royer, Holt, and Reese families made the trip so we had to give them a show. The Magician found his magic and posted a two-under 70. Jenny followed up with 72. Jeremy posted a solid 77 and Carter rounded us out with an 82. A 301 for Day 1 wasn’t bad at all and with better weather for Day 2 we felt good about making a run up the leader board. We called in some Domino’s for dinner and relaxed at the hotel. We spent the rest of the night watching the refs butcher the second half of the NCAA March Madness Championship Game.

Day 2 brought clear skies, warm temperatures, and low winds, which are perfect scoring conditions for a charge up the leader board. After scarfing down some Panera bagels, we headed to the course. An 8:00 a.m. shotgun meant a crowded range and putting green. We headed out to our starting holes and got ready to tear up the course. Some Jackets got off to a hot start, but then golf happened. The course exacted its revenge on us with many Jackets struggling. Jordan carded a 77 and Jenny brought home a 78. John improved from Day 1 with a 79 and Jeremy rounded us out with an 80 to give us a 314. Not exactly what we wanted, but it happens sometimes and we just learn and move on.

Next week we are going to Purgatory…

No not that Purgatory (that one doesn’t really match up with Cedarville). Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Indiana is the next stop for the NCAA Midwest Regional #4. A strong finish there can really boost our momentum for the G-MAC tournament a few weeks from now.

See you next week!

Quotes of the Week:

"My phone is about to die! Ladies please!"- Jordan Reese on dealing with the ladies blowing up his phone

"The fish jumped into the boat, and took the worm out of the cooler." - Jordan Reese

"Sky caddie? What’s the yardage to that bunker?"- Everyone

"John, you got any sour cream for those bagels?" - Jordan Reese

"If they’re from Bangladesh and they’re 97 years old, their cookies are still incredible." - Carter Ehms on how all old ladies’ cookies are good


March 29, 2017

Jacket Fans,

This week we were at home at Country Club of the North (CCN) for the Cedarville Spring Invitational. There’s no place like home for your CU Men’s Golf Team, as the fans came out in force for this one. We had members from the Holt, Royer, Reese, and Ehms families along with some potential new guys for next year and CU staff. Shout out to Dr. Giest, Nick Boucher (AKA best Chaplain ever), and others for taking time out of your days to give us some golf claps. We love having the opportunity to play and practice at CCN, but CCN holds its water like a mother holds its child…it never lets it go.

The layout of CCN makes it so that a good amount of the landing areas on holes are down in valleys so water tends to collect there. Combine that with the rain we’ve been getting in Ohio and you’ve got a sopping wet golf course. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with a soggy course, but it’s just another factor that we have to consider in our game plan. Thankfully, we were playing lift clean and place through the green this week (known as ball in hand). This means that we can mark our ball, pick it up, clean it, and place it within a scorecard length of its original spot (no closer to the hole) anywhere up until the green except hazards and bunkers. Basically, it means we would never have to deal with mud on the ball or a bad lie because you can just place your ball in a good lie after you’ve cleaned it.

We played our practice round on Sunday and split into two foursomes (note: everyone gets to play in the home invite so we had our usual 5 and 3 individuals). John Sandslav chose to wear pants that day and quickly realized that the bottoms of his pants were going to get quite dirty from walking around the wet and muddy fairways. So, like the engineer that he is, he solved the problem. John rolled up his pants to a lovely capris length and played the practice round baring his ankles to the world. This led to the obvious jeering from his teammates (totally not me…) and many puns about having great ankles.

Day 1 brought unusually good weather with partly cloudy skies and no wind. Great weather and a soft course with ball in hand means good scoring conditions and we took advantage. Crash Ehms brought home a career low 69. Jenny carded a 69 as well. The Magician scored a 72 and both Reuben and Johnny rounded us out with 78's. Add that up and you get an even par 288, which is the third lowest team score in school history. The 288 also meant a 23 shot lead after Day 1.

 

Day 2 brought clouds and some wind, but it was nothing we couldn’t handle. Jenny played the heart-attack game coming down the stretch hitting three cart paths and a very solid tree on the last four holes but posted a 72. John posted a solid 75 to break his streak of 78's. Jordan Reese posted a 77 and Crash rounded out our four with a 78. Jared posted a 79 so he wasn’t far behind either. A 302 locked up the W for the team with a 35 (no that’s not a typo) shot victory! Jenny also got his first win as an individual with a 3 under 141. Carter finished strong in fourth.

We’ve got a quick turnaround this week. After a few practice sessions at the end of the week and another Bible study with Nick (gotta keep that spiritual game strong too), we head out Sunday to Nashville for the NCAA MW Regional #3 at Hermitage GC.



See you next week!



Quotes of the Week:

"Wow John, you’ve got a great ankle into that pin there"- Unknown

"If you hit it at the right ankle, it should be perfect"- Unknown

"Mediocre at best"- do I really need to put who said this?

"Splat"- the sound of every tee shot when it landed

"That tee shot should be fine as long as it doesn’t hit the cart path"- Jenny right as his tee shot hits the cart path


March 20, 2017

Jacket Fans,

This past weekend your CU Mens Golf team took a short drive to Georgetown, Kentucky to compete in the Saginaw Valley State Invitational at Cherry Blossom Golf Club. We arrived around 10 a.m. on Friday for our practice round and prepped for the day at Cracker Barrel, which quickly became a team favorite.

We have played fairly well at Cherry Blossom in the past, and many of the Jackets who made the trip know the course well. With water in play on only four holes, Cherry Blossom is pretty open and players can spray their tee shots and still be okay. Quick shout-out to Mr. Royer and "Bus Driver" Bill Holt for making the trip south to watch us play. We love having support on the course and greatly appreciate you guys braving the weather to watch us play.

The practice round brought cold weather with some wind and expected rain. We trudged our way around the course bundled up in Under Armor’s and rain gear with plenty of hand warmers. The course was in surprising condition with the fairways firm and the greens much quicker than anticipated. Thankfully, the rain went around us and we were spared a sopping wet ride to the hotel.

After the practice round, we enjoyed a rousing dinner with "Bus Driver" Bill Holt and Mr. Royer at Buffalo Wild Wings (Bdubs for the younger folk) complete with March Madness and some theological discussion. Recently, my aunt went through a doubly mastectomy to remove cancer. My father went to visit her before making the trip to Kentucky and shared a question he was asked by a nurse in the hospital. She asked, "Can a believer lose their salvation by blaspheming God?" I have to say, that Bible minor definitely came in handy during that discussion (Shout-out to Dr. Miller for the solid OT class Sophomore year that got me through a large part of this discussion).

Day 1 brought colder than expected temperatures. The wind chill put the "feels like" portion of the weather app around 25-30 degrees. High winds and cloudy skies dominated the majority of the day. Bundled up like Eskimos with hand warmers keeping our fingers from freezing, we braved the course. We played well for the first competitive round of the year posting a solid 303. The Magician brought in a 73 and Jenny wasn’t far behind with a 76. Crash Ehms riding high off of a near double eagle on the par 5 ninth hole, shot 76 and Johnny Sandlslav brought in a 78. A 303 put us T3rd in a tough field.

We spent the night with a lovely meal at Ruby Tuesday’s (that salad bar was en fuego) with the brave fans that made the trip to watch us play in the cold. Tales of the good and bad shots of the day were exchanged and then we retreated to the hotel for the night to prep for the final day.

Day 2 was supposed to be similar to Day 1, but with much less wind and even some of that yellow thing in the sky that’s warm that we never see much of. A shotgun start meant that all the teams go off at the same time on different holes so the driving range and putting greens were packed to the brim with players. After a quick warm-up, we headed to our starting holes. The sun decided to briefly bless us with its warmth in the first few holes but retreated until the last five or so holes. Like the previous day, we played well. Jenny posted a 72 despite a poor 18th hole. Jordan Reese struggled, but still managed a respectable 75. The leader-Hoelzen rebounded after a rough Day 1 to post 77. The 18th also beat up John, but he still managed another 78. A 302 total put us in 6th at the end of the day. While 6th may not seem like that high of a finish, there were a lot of really good teams at this one and we found ourselves fiercely competing with them despite a little bit of rust in our games. Along with this, Jenny and The Magician finished T12th as individuals. (Fun Fact: Jenny and Reese are exactly tied so far in both rounds over spring break and the first tournament).

This week, you can find us back in the books and back with our Chaplain Nick Boucher. We also have some qualifying to round out our five for next week. Speaking of next week…

Come out and support us at the CU Invitational at Country Club of the North on Monday 3/27 and Tuesday 3/28! This is a home event for us so we would love to see some of you out there golf clapping and using your golf whispers as we (hopefully) tear up the competition! (In Jesus’ name of course)!

See you next week!

Quotes of the Week

"If trees could talk, I wonder what they would say? They’d probably say they wish they were treeted better"- Jordan Reese

"And there goes my bracket"- Pretty much everyone


March 13, 2017

This past week, your CU Men's Golf Team flew down to Arizona for Spring Break to get our games ready for our Spring season. Each day was packed full of good golf, great food, and timeless memories (especially for the seniors).

We left campus at an early 5:30 a.m. on Sunday to head to the airport for our flight. After some quick breakfast sandwiches, we boarded and enjoyed a smooth and short flight to Atlanta for our connecting flight, Surprisingly, Reuben flew very well and he may be getting used to this whole flying thing.

We were greeted in Arizona by a balmy 80 degrees and plenty of sunshine (which would be the trend for the week). We made a quick stop at In-and-Out burger (my personal favorite) and then headed to our condo. After getting to our condo and unpacking, we meandered around the resort and dipped into plenty of hot tubs to get our muscles ready for golf.

Before I get into the details of the week, I'd like to say a special thank you to all the individuals who made this trip possible. Our team would not have been able to practice and prepare for our season without the generosity of those who chose to support Cedarville University. Our gratitude cannot be put into words for the experience that you enabled us to enjoy this past week.

We had an extremely packed schedule, so lets break it into each day.

Monday -

Monday brought our first golf action in Arizona. We headed to a local driving range for a few hours of practice to get our swings back into shape. After that, we hit up Chick-fil-A (another personal favorite) and headed to a course called Superstition Mountain. This course is famous for multiple LPGA tour events in the past so we knew we were in for a treat.
 
This course was beautiful, in immaculate condition, and that mountain rnge was in view on every hole. Some Jackets played well and others not so much, but it was hard to focus on the results with the views we had. We hit up a local Mexican restaurant called Tia Rosa's and we had some good fellowship that night.


 

Tuesday -

Tuesday brought another day of fantastic golf. An early morning for the Jackets started with Jake and Coach making eggs and pancakes for the team. We then headed to a golf course way out in the desert about two hours away called The Gallery. The Gallery is another special course. The WGC Match Play Championship (a PGA Tour event) was held at the Gallery in 2007 and 2008. The fact that we were able to play a PGA Tour course blew our minds, and it was incredible to see the course conditions that Tour Pros play every week.

Like the day before, The Gallery was an absolute treat to play. With perfect greens, amazing fairways, and a beautiful course layout, we weren't too concerned with our score and chose to focus more on the experience.

Coach Bowen treated the players to Texas Roadhouse where some players (mostly myself) tore through the complimentary bread rolls like a wood chipper. Stories of good (and bad) shots flowed across the table as the team reminisced about the day's round.



Wednesday -

Wednesday brought a similar, but different, treat as the day before. We were able to play 27 holes at a course called Dove Mountain. Like The Gallery, Dove Mountain also hosted the WGC Match Play Championship from 2009 to 2014. Everything about the course was perfect. The practice facilities were exquisite and provided a great opportunity to tune our game before we played the courses (note: Dove Mountain has three nine-hole courses and we were fortunate to play all 27 on the same day.)

27 holes in one day can really take a toll on the stomach and we were famished at the end of the day. Thankfully, there was a local Chinese buffet close by that we pretty much cleaned out.




Thursday -

Thursday was the day we had been preparing for all week. Our first competition of the spring was a small exhibition between Arizona Christian University, Wheaton College, and us. Per the usual competition format, we had a team of five and took the lowest four scores. Those who weren't in the top five also competed for individual honors.

The Jackets played fairly well for not hitting outside 99% of the off-season. We posted a score of 304 and finished second overall as a team. The Wizard and Jenny both posted scores of 73 to finish T4th as individuals. There were a lot of positives to take away from our first competitive round of the season, and Coach Bowen himself said he was pleased with our results.


 

Friday -

Friday brought possibly the coolest experience of the trip. We had planned an intersquad competition at a course called Papago (pronunciation varies based on who you talk to). The top prize was a milkshake and the team was split into three teams with the lowest gross score winning. Our connection for getting onto the course came through Dr. Dixon and we had the honor of meeting a man who has had a profound impact on the golf world.

We had the honor of meeting Karsten Solheim, son of the founder of Ping golf, and his wife Bonnie. Mr. Solheim played a pivotal role in getting us on the course on Friday and it was a surreal experience being able to speak with him and his wife before we teed off.

As for the competition, the team of Coach Bowen, Jake, and myself had the lowest total score and won us milkshakes from Chick-fil-A. The taste of victory was sweet, but unfortunately, it meant our time was coming to a close in Arizona.


Saturday -

We spent our final day in Arizona with a farewell visit to In-and-Out burger (Seriously folks, if you ever are on the west coast and can try it, do it) and a trip to an MLB Spring Training game between the Padres and the Brewers.

We started with 10 Jackets in the sun-soaked third row of the stadium. After a short while, a few moved upwards towards the seats that were in the shade. Eventually, seven wimps moved from the great seats we had in the third row to higher seats in the shade. The three seniors toughed it out in the heat and got front row seats to the game (unfortunately, we didn't have any foul balls come our way).

We sadly headed to the airport and boarded our direct flight from Phoenix to Columbus and flew home. When we left Arizona, it was about 80 degrees. When we landed, it was 20 degrees. But such is life, and we will persevere through the unfortunate weather that we get for being in Ohio.


Mark your calendars for March 18th and 19th. Our first tournament in our Spring season will be at Cherry Blossom Golf Club in Kentucky for the Saginaw Valley State Invitational.

Hope to see you then!


Curb count for the Week:

Coach Bowen- 2
Coach Reese- 0

Quotes of the Week:

"It's Kroger brand" - Jeremy Royer

"You could part the Red Sea with Taylor's 2-iron" - Hayden James

"This place looks like Tatooine" - Crash Ehms after arriving in Arizona

"Hello, this is the Cedarville Golf Team" - Jake as he answers the hotel phone

"Jaketouille"- unknown

"Rice Rice Baby..." Hayden James

"All he had were a bag of goldfish Jeremy" "Then why did we bring him?"- Jeremy Royer

"You should've seen him at Texas Roadhouse...It was disgusting"- Jared Hoelzen on an unnamed teammates eating speed

"Jared with the conservative play...surprising no one" Jeremy Royer after Jared gets a cookie at a Baskin Robins ice cream run

"Well, at least at the end of the day, you're still a married man John" Hayden James after ANOTHER lipped out putt by John

"MEDIOCRE AT BEST" - Hayden James after any good accomplishment done by any teammate

"What are you wearing 'Jake from State Farm'? Uhh...slippers"- Unknown



February 28, 2017

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

Okay, I know Christmas has come and gone, but for your CU Men's Golf Team the last week of February brings almost as much excitement and joy as Christmas morning. We'll get to that soon, but first, let's get a quick recap for the new readers.

When we last talked, the team just finished up down south at The Hombre in Panama City Beach with two All-Americans and a team finish of sixth-place. The savvy readers among you would have noticed I left a little clue towards the end of the last blog as to a plan to practice during the cold, dark Ohio winter.

The day after we landed back in cold, snowy Ohio, some of the Jackets had the opportunity to visit the old shed next to the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course. We walked into the shed and were greeted by Tony Goocey (CU Class of '86) who had an amazing opportunity for our golf team. In pursuit of a business venture, Mr. Goocey had purchased an indoor golf simulator. Unfortunately, the business opportunity didn't pan out for him, but, after a short meeting with Coach Reese during homecoming, an opportunity was born for us.

Long story short, we now have an indoor simulator that we were able to use to practice all winter. For those who don't know, the simulator uses lasers and microphones to predict where your golf ball would go if you were to hit it outside. It then uses a projector to show you the flight of the ball (think Tiger Woods video game). The software came with plenty of professional courses to play. Coach Bowen also added another net for taking swing videos and a putting mat to work on our speed to make our indoor practice facility complete. This is easily the best tool the golf team has ever had to improve our game during the "poor weather" times of the year.

Also, per yearly tradition, we took on the Intramural Basketball B League as a team (and a few friends, too). "Arnies Army" dominated regular season play with a perfect record of 4-0 and boasting a record win of 93 points in one game (for the doubters, check out our swag ).
 

Unfortunately, the dream season would end in the first game in the playoffs, which meant an earlier start to the golf season! God blessed us with amazing weather last week and we were able to get out and play 47 holes of golf (extra holes were needed for a few ties), which is a miracle for February in Ohio.

Next week early on Sunday morning, we will excitedly head for Arizona for Spring Break. We have matches planned with some local college teams and plan to play as much golf as we can in the Grand Canyon State. It will be incredible to see the ball flying once again and we can't wait to get into our season.

See y'all next week!

Quotes of the off-season:

"Basketball is just like golf, just get the ball in the hole" - John Sandlas

"Gimme?" - Unknown "No it's not a gimme, I've seen you miss shorter ones before"- Jeremy Royer to an undisclosed golfer who then proceeded to miss the putt

"Just taaaaaaaaaaap it in..." - Unknown

"SHAPOOPY"- the seniors after a poor golf shot

"Just take the last one and he'll never know" - John Sandlas on leaving the last brownie for a teammate


October 27, 2016

Hey Jacket Fans

This week, we hopped on a plane and went to the sunshine state for the NCCAA National Championship at The Hombre Golf Club in Panama City Beach, Florida. For those wondering, yes the weather was perfect. Most of the days were around 80 with tons of sunshine.

The Hombre is a tough track. With 3 nines (the good, the bad, and the ugly [we only played the bad and the ugly]), tight fairways and small greens, the course can draw out some big numbers (like previous blogger BK dropping a 17 on hole #2 freshman year).

Twelve teams made it to the National Championship. After two days, three are cut and the remaining nine compete on the final day. Making the cut is a great accomplishment, as only the best teams in the NCCAA make it to Florida in October.

In following tradition (actually I just stole the layout that BK did last year), I'll go through the good, the bad, and the ugly of each day spent in sunny Florida.

Good for the week - Our fans travel really well. The Holt, Reese, and Sandlas families made the trek to Panama City and supported the Jackets on all three days. We really can't say in words how much we appreciate the support and encouragement we've received all year from our fans. It means the world to us to have that kind of support at an event as big as this.

Saturday

Good - The good, probably the best, part of day 1 would definitely have to be that we left cold 50 degree Ohio and landed in sunny and 75 Florida. The view from the Majestic Towers (our place of stay for the trip) wasn't too bad either.

Bad - Waking up at 3:15 a.m. and leaving at 4 in the morning is never fun. While we were scanning our boarding passes to board our flight, the Delta worker did his best to say, "Have a good flight Mr. *insert last name here" for every person who boarded the plane. When Thong went to board, he heard "Have a good flight Mr. Sandslav?" (For those unaware, Thong is Henry John Sandlas V and his boarding pass read SandlasV.) Also, Jordan and I got our breakfast sandwiches mixed up at Chick-fil-A in the Dayton Airport. It's quite a let-down when you're expecting the taste of chicken and get egg....

Ugly - Well we learned something about Reuben...he doesn't fly too well. Thankfully, his breakfast didn't make a second appearance, but ol' Reuben wasn't looking too hot after our flights into Florida.




Sunday

Good - The course was in fantastic shape all week. The greens were smooth, the fairways were firm, and the weather was great. Our practice round went very well. We were able to get a good feel for what clubs needed to be hit off of certain tees as placement is VERY important at The Hombre. Miss in the wrong spot and the course will make you pay.

Bad - At the banquet, they had programs with the information of each team, history of the tournament, etc. However, one thing was missing in the Cedarville University section. Coach Reese was not mentioned at all. The best assistant coach we have had all year didn't even get a shout out in the program.

Ugly - I knew what would go here the second it happened on Sunday. The tent they used for the banquet was placed in the parking lot next to 1 tee box. The MC was going over the nominees for the Women's Game Plan 4 Life award (given for exhibiting the qualities of faith, integrity, faith and excellence). Hilariously, a member of a team at a table right in front of us had his chair fall apart from under him and the whole banquet burst into laughter. Minutes later, the sprinklers came on and sprayed the entire right side of the seating for the banquet. Yes people got wet, no we didn't get wet, and yes we laughed our butts off through all of it.

Monday (Round 1)

Good - Crash Ehms and The Wizard brought their A game Monday. Reese brought in an even par 72 and Carter carded a 74. Yours truly had a 77 and Reuben rounded us out with an 84. A 307 had us sitting in 2nd! A great first day for the team.

Bad - Reuben did his best BK impression on hole 2 hitting two balls in the water and making an 8. If you're keeping count at home, that's four less than BK our freshman year. He did his best, but nobody can dethrone BK the king of hole 2 at The Hombre.

Ugly - Jenny's putting the first few holes was something to be forgotten. A three-putt on 1 and a four-putt on 2 didn't give him the start he wanted. But thankfully there are 18 holes in a golf round and he recovered.

Tuesday (Round 2)

Good - Jared made a new friend on the trip. We weren't able to pack his pushcart "Old Faithful" for the plane ride down. We were able to pick him up a replacement at Dick's Sporting Goods the day we got to Florida. Unfortunately, it was not up to par, and the weight imbalance on it caused it to fall over all of day 1. So Reuben and Coach Reese called an audible and went back to Dick's Sporting Goods and got a new one. The team affectionately dubbed the new pushcart (pull cart?) Michael (Reuben's middle name). The team gained a new family member, and Michael faithfully served Reuben's needs for the rest of the trip. (Spoiler alert - Michael also made the trip back and has a new home in Coach Reese's office).
 

Bad - A golfers tan line is probably the most embarrassing, or appealing if that's your thing, attribute about a golfer. The team spent a good two hours on the beach playing spikeball and blinding the local residents with our pasty white skin. Thankfully, none of us got burned too badly.

Ugly - The team got off to a rough start on Round 2. We started on the back nine and played the first three holes at a combined 18 over as a team, but most recovered well from the rough start to post a good score though. Also, there was a certain theory about a certain Bus Driver's method of reading the Bible in the morning that left a few Jackets questioning their morning routines.

Wednesday (Round 3)

Good - Jenny and Reese finished with All-American Honors (Jenny finished 5th and Reese finished 9th). The team also finished as the sixth-best team in the NCCAA.

Bad - Crash nearly took a golf ball to the face on hole 17 courtesy of Jenny's 3 wood. 17 was moved up to 280 yards as a par 4 to incentivize players to try and drive the green. Carter's group was putting on the green. With the wind in our face and a back pin (total 302 yards to the pin), Jenny pulled a 3 wood just trying to put the ball short of the green (note- I haven't hit a 3 wood in competition or practice in over a month #2ironprobs). The ball soared high into the sky with a baby draw, landed about five feet away from the face of Crash Ehms and trickled to about five feet from the hole. Crash, I'm sorry for nearly nailing you in the face with a 3 wood. In my defense, I did make the eagle putt though.

Ugly - Big numbers (any score double bogey or higher) plagued the Jackets at this one. It's easy for scores to balloon when The Hombre rears its Ugly head. The team had 40 double bogeys or worse through three days. Good news is that if we clean those up and play the same next year, we've got a great chance to win.


Golf is a funny game. It has the ability to wear you down, make you hate the game, and contemplate a life without the torture of a golf round. Every now and then, you hit that one shot. The perfect shot, exactly how you saw it in your mind's eye and you get drawn back into the game. We might not have played how we wanted to this week, but we all had a few of "those shots" that renewed our eagerness to play the game.

Unfortunately, that eagerness will have to wait. Winter is coming, and golf balls and snow don't mix well. We do have a plan in place to combat that however, and as a senior, I hope that plan comes to fruition soon.

The Jackets return to competition in the spring and in the meantime you can find us working out (yes, we actually do that), working on swing mechanics, and enjoying time off from the game we love (sometimes).

Thanks for joining us for the ride, and we'll see you in the spring.

Quotes of the week -

"Get me within 12 meters and I'll kill 'em" - Crash Ehms
"Where's Michael?" - Everyone at the Dayton Airport
"Sergei Sandslav!" Crash Ehms "Sir gay?" - Jordan Reese
"If Jared wins a tournament, does that mean he's the Leader Hoelzen?" - unknown

Curb count -

Mrs. Reese - 2 (the same curb twice)
Coach Bowen - an unprecedented 0 (because he didn't drive)
Coach Reese - 0


October 19, 2016

Jacket Fans,

This week your CU Men's Golf Team buzzed down to Marietta Country Club in Marietta, Ohio to play in the 36-hole OVU Invitational. All eight of us packed into the van and drove down Sunday morning for our practice round.

In our research, we noticed one strange thing about this golf course. It's short... like really short. Most courses we play are between 6,500 and 7,000 yards long. Marietta CC is 6,200 yards long. The longer guys on the team were licking their chops and dreaming of driving short par 4's before even playing the course. Combine that with the fact that we'd get to play in carts (yes, that's a first), we were expecting a cakewalk. After a quick pit stop at Firehouse Subs (a new but heavily liked Coach Bowen choice), we moved on to the course for our practice round.

To say that we were surprised when we played our practice round would be an understatement. Marietta CC has more ups and downs than the Wizard's short game. Every hole had some sort of elevation change with a postage stamp green smaller than most living rooms. Flat putts are a mere pipe dream on the greens at Marietta CC.

But the Jackets love a challenge, so we braced for a 36 in one day marathon on Monday.

We rose before the butt crack of dawn, downed an expectedly "meh" hotel breakfast, and headed to the course. The sun finally rose about 15 minutes before our shotgun start at 8 a.m. We piled into the carts and set out for our 36 holes.

Nice weather kept us company as we worked our way around the course, all day (literally all day as the sun was done for the day when we left). You can't ask for much more than fairly low winds, sunshine, and 80-degree weather. Something about this course threw us for a loop though, as scores were higher than hoped for...

Jenny ended up with a pair of 73's to finish tied for second as an individual. Reese the Wizard struggled early on but finished strong shooting 76-72 for a fourth-place finish. Reuben Hoelzen went 77-81, Thong Sandlas had a pair of 79's and Crash Ehms anchored the squad with 77-83. Our individuals included Jeremy Royer, 81-78, Jacob Adams, 84-81, and Hayden James, 84-87.

The five for CU went 303-305 to take 2nd to D&E's 300-303. Not our best performance, but hey, the last time we took 2nd in a tournament, we won the next one. Here's hoping that continues next week in sunny Florida!

The ride home consisted of a stop at Chick-fil-A (always a good choice) and stories were told of great shots, not so great cart driving skills, and fun memories from the day.

You can catch us next week down in Panama City Beach, Florida for our final fall tournament at the NCCAA Championship. Until then, we'll be sharpening our games on the range and sharpening our lives with Nick Boucher the team chaplain.

Have a good week folks!

Quotes of the week -

"I don't waste strokes, I give them out like candy" - Jake Adams
"Get your hands on me!" - Jordan Reese
"Now he's mad and he needs a cart ride with the trainer" - Jeremy Royer on Thong Sandlas


October 12, 2016

Howdy Jacket Fans,

This week we had our own little edition of the Ryder Cup. While the spectators were not as rowdy as the Ryder Cup that occurred 10 days ago, the golf was just as, if not more, impressive.

Coach Bowen created the teams and thought he was clever with the team names.

Team Yellow consisted of: Jordan "The Wizard" Reese
Carter "Crash" Ehms
John "Thong" Sandlas
Jake Adams

Team Jackets consisted of: Taylor "Jenny" Holt
Jared "Reuben" Hoelzen
Jeremy Royer
Hayden James

The format was two days of match play golf. Day 1 would be alternate shot and Day 2 would be four-ball best ball. (For those who don't know, alternate shot is where a team of two alternate shots (duh) and four-ball best ball is normal golf with each team taking the best score on a hole). A win for a group would be worth 1 point and a draw would be worth of a point. First team to hit 2 points wins.

Coach Bowen also implemented a special rule. If anyone missed a fairway off the tee or the green on their approach shot, they must add 1 stroke to their score for the hole. The Hombre down in Florida has some pretty Ugly (you'll get that pun here in a few weeks) holes that are very tight, so Coach wanted to get our minds focused on hitting fairways and greens.

So the teams spoke and decided on their pairings for Day 1.

Day 1

On Day 1 Jeremy and Hayden took on The Wizard and Crash in alternate shot. The second pairing would be Jenny and Reuben vs. Thong and Jake. From what I could tell being the second group of the day, Jeremy and Hayden couldn't handle the Wizard's magic. Yours truly and Reuben would pick up the slack and win 6 and 4 to get the score to 1-1 after Day 1.

Day 2

Day 2 came a few days later. Jenny and Team Jackets felt pretty good about the pairings that we had so we kept our pairings the same. Team Yellow apparently felt the same way, but chose to make one costly mistake...

They switched the order of their pairings. Hoping The Wizard would keep up his magic, they sent his pairing off in the anchor spot.

Well Jenny would have none of that. He and Reuben lit up the course beating Crash and The Wizard 4 and 2. Jeremy and Hayden would rebound after a tough Day 1 and win their match 1 up over Thong and Jake.

The final score would come to 3-1 with Team Jackets taking the Ryder Cup!

Unfortunately we don't have an actual cup (that would be pretty sweet [I'm looking at you Mr. Alumni]), but Team Jackets does get bragging rights until we do it again.

While we do love competing (and beating in certain cases) our teammates, lets get back to playing other teams. You can catch us in Marietta, Ohio for the Ohio Valley Invitational this week. It's a 36 in one day event so it'll be a doozy.

Hope your year is going well so far, and we hope to see some of you out on the course.

Peace out

Quote of the week -

"Yeah Team Yellow! Oh wait..." - Hayden James after his team winning the Ryder Cup


September 28, 2016

Jacket Fans,

This week your CU Jackets set out for the Windy City for the NCAA Midwest Regional at Harborside International. Historically, the weather has not been kind to us. Wind, rain, and cold weather are almost a guarantee in Chicago in late September, but we grinded through it anyways.

We set off at the butt crack of dawn on Sunday morning. A quick pit stop at Mickey D's for breakfast and Culvers (a crowd favorite on the CU Golf Team) for lunch gave us the energy needed to endure Harborside International. The practice round brought new information (courtesy of the grain reading on the greens by Coach Bowen) and renewed memories for the old farts of the team.

So what is the one thing you must do if you're in Chicago and are hungry? Simple, you go get deep-dish pizza. After our practice round we hit up Giordanos and indulged in the glory that is Chicago deep-dish pizza. A very friendly waitress made our experience unforgettable. (Coach Reese may or may not be the sunshine in a certain waitress's life). It was there that we also learned of the passing of golfing legend Arnold Palmer.
Day one at Harborside brought something unexpected for Chicago. Sunlight. Yes, the sun was out and shining on day one. But, as tradition goes, the wind was howling. With gusts of 30 MPH, it was hard to get the ball to go where we'd like it to go. Scores were high with the Wizard bringing in a 77, Jenny with an 80, Jared "Reuben" Hoelzen (we'll get to that real soon) with an 82 and Crash Ehms anchoring the team with an 86.

With a disappointing day one in our heads, Coach Bowen asked one fateful question that sparked the creation of a lasting nickname for one of the newbies. Here's how it went down: Coach Bowen - "Hey guys, does burgers sound good?"
Jared Hoelzen (answering loud enough for the city of Chicago to hear) -

"YES!"

A few moments later at the burger place:
Jared Hoelzen - "Uhh, yeah, can I get a Reuben please?"
Everyone else with their jaws dropped - "Are you serious dude? You basically told the whole world you wanted burgers and you get a Reuben?"
Jared - "I used to have one at least once a week and I haven't had one since I got to school"

And thus, a nickname was born. Rueben will always hold a special place in my memories as the kid who was so ecstatic for burgers, only to get a Reuben.

Day two shocked us even more with more sunshine. Could it be? A trip to Chicago with no rain? (For the new folks here, Jenny has gone every four years to Chicago and it has poured EVERY SINGLE YEAR with the exception of this year). The wind was still howling though, and scores ballooned as much as our drives into the wind. Jenny and Reese switched scores with a 77 and an 80 respectively. Crash improved on day one with an 83. Reuben anchored us with an 85. The team ended up finishing 17th out of 25 teams. Not the greatest finish, but lots of lessons were learned about playing golf in the wind.

While scores may have been high, it was an experience to remember. We have a small break until our next tournament. For now, we have a Ryder Cup team event planned to keep our games sharp.

Until next time!

Quotes of the week -

"Look man, you don't have to smoke it, you just have to sell it"- Coach Reese on potential fund raising ideas for the CU Golf Team
"Reese, is that you singing or the turrets?" - John Sandlas
"Dude, you should totally put something in the blog about Coach Bowen hitting like four curbs on the trip"- Crash Ehms


September 21, 2016

Howdy Jacket Fans!

This week your CU men's gGolf team was blazing a path through Ohio and Indiana. We first set out for the G-MAC Fall Preview at Shaker Run Golf Course in Lebanon, Ohio.

Before we get into our tournaments, I'd like to give a shout out to all who came out to support us this week. We had many parents come out and we really appreciate the support. Nothing makes us happier than a gallery that we can show off our game to!

A theme for this week... the wizard found his magic.

"Short Game Wizard" Reese opened the G-MAC Fall Preview with a 69 followed by John Sandlas with a career-best 72. Jenny Holt followed with a 73 and Carter "Crash" Ehms rounded out our four scores with a 79 to give us a respectable 293 on a rainy Day 1. Jared "Push Cart" Hoelzen, playing as an individual, posted a solid 72 the first day as well. A quick stop at Rapid Fired Pizzas in Centerville, Ohio had us eager for the next day.

Day 2 however had other plans. The Wizard followed his stellar Day 1 with a 70 to finish first as an individual. "Push Cart" Hoelzen continued his fantastic freshman play with a 73 on Day 2 to finish third as an individual. This is Jared's first Top 5 and we see a lot of solid play in his future. The other scores were... not so great. We finished with a 304 to take second-place as a team by one stroke coming just short of Trevecca Nazarene. It was a tough pill to swallow, but we knew that the big tournament was yet to come...

So we packed into the van and set our sights on Indiana. The NCCAA Midwest Regional Qualifier was held at Country Oaks GC. This is the big one because a win here means sunshine and sandy beaches for us instead of the cold weather of October in Ohio. The team, and especially the seniors, knew the importance of a win at Country Oaks.

After a quick pit stop at Subway, we headed for the course. Because we weren't able to have a practice round, Coach Bowen wisely advised us to play conservatively on Day 1. To say that strategy paid off would be an understatement.

The Wizard continued his stellar play, yes again, with a 68. "Crash" Ehms set a personal record with an impressive 70 as well. "Push Cart" Hoelzen, playing the #5 spot in place of Jeremy Royer who had an "ouchie" on the final day at Shaker Run, shot a 73. Yours truly followed with a 74 to tie the all-time school record of 285.

Coach Reese decided to reward us with a buffet dinner at Ponderosa. "Bus Driver Bill" Holt and the Royers graced us with their presence. A fantastic meal ensued with stories of the round and discussions ranging from strategy for the next day to the different types of planes in the Air Force (courtesy of Papa Holt telling some stories from his days of being a flight-line mechanic). We closed out the night with a Face Time call from Coach Bowen who reminded us to stay patient and to stick to our game plan.

Day 2 came quickly with the first tee time around 9 a.m. With Coach Bowen's advice ringing in our heads, we set out to win our ticket to Florida. While not as strong as Day 1, our performance was solid enough to get our first win of the year! Reese carded a 73 to finish 2nd individually. "Push Cart" brought home a solid 75. "Crash", who would go on to take home some hardware making the all-tournament team, and John Sandlas both finished with a 76 for a team score of 300 and a 13-shot victory!

Needless to say we are stoked to get to go to Florida in October! Getting to Florida was one of our team goals this year and it feels good getting the job done in the clutch. This week you can find us prepping for Chicago at the NCAA Midwest Regional and hanging with the team chaplain.

Thanks for reading, and we'll see you next time in Chicago!

Quotes of the week -

• "That's a BALD HEAD" Hayden James
• In anticipation of long walks on the beach in Florida... "I appreciate fine art" John Sandlas

September 7, 2016

Jacket Fans,

This past Tuesday your CU Jackets traversed down I-70 to Blacklick, Ohio to play in the ODU Classic at Jefferson Golf and Country Club. An early departure at 5:45 a.m. and a quick breakfast stop at Mickey D's got us to the course around 7:15 a.m. After a crowded warm-up on the range and putting green, we set out to the course for a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. After arriving at our designated tees, we started the marathon that is a 36-hole one-day event.

For those who are unaware, here's what playing 36 holes of golf in one day. Take standing on your feet for 11 hours straight, add in soaking in the heat of a tanning bed, and throw in the mental anguish that competition strains on your brain cells and you have a 36-hole one-day event.

They aren't that bad if golf is your thing, but scores become sporadic in these types of events. The combination of all day "fun in the sun" on the golf course can cause mental lapses to say the least. Some players thrive in these types of mental marathons while others wish they could be back at CU sipping Mountain Dew and eating Chuck's pizza.

A few players left Jefferson G&CC triumphant, while others were just happy to get in the van and go home. Jenny Holt came away with a tied for 4th finish with a 74-73. John "Thong" Sandlas left the course with 81-77 - besting his rounds from his freshman year (the last time CU was at this event). "Short game wizard" Reese didn't have his magic this week posting a 77-82. The others... lets just say that some were happy to have had the opportunity to play golf on a nice day.

After the grueling marathon, Coaches Reese and Bowen took the team to Smashburger for; you guessed it, burgers and fries. Some reminisced about not so fantastic shots on the course, while others talked about the mental approach needed to seal the deal when you have a chance to win the tournament (Spoiler alert: Jenny choked on the 35th hole with a triple bogey to go from second alone to tied in fourth.)

All in all it was a great tournament and a fantastic start to our season. Lessons were learned, times were had, and memories were made. The newbies also got some valuable experience in what is the grind of being a collegiate golfer.

This week you can find us at our team Bible study with Nick Bouscher (Lawlor RD), out at the Reese Short Game Facility, or on the campus range perfecting our swings.

Our next event is September 17th and 18th at Shaker Run Golf Course for G-MAC competition.

Quote of the week - "This guy's picking his nose... HE SAW ME!!" Jake

Have a great week folks!


September 2, 2016

Jacket Fans,

Welcome to the CU Men's Golf Team Blog! This is your host, Taylor Holt, writing and wishing you a great first week of the school year. This blog will be a weekly update on what's going on for the Jackets both on and off the course.

A few quick introductions... This year we've got three returning seniors. Yours truly (known as Jenny), John Sandlas, and Jeremy Royer round out the grizzled veterans for this year's team. We've also got Jordan "Short Game Wizard" Reese (Junior), sophomores Carter "Crash" Ehms and Jacob "Jake" Adams. The freshmen Hayden James and Jared Hoelzen round out the team.

Our first official practice and meeting occurred this week at the Reese Short Game Facility where your Jackets worked on concentration on short putts. Afterwards, we were graciously served burgers and brats by the Reese's and were officially introduced to our coaches this year.

New to the team but not new to CU are the coaches. Head Coach Ryan Bowen makes his return to the team after stepping down from coaching in 2011. Coach Bowen brings veteran leadership to the team, and his wisdom and knowledge of the game will help take our players to the next level. Chris Reese is the new Director of Golf Operations, and he has already done an amazing job in getting us into great tournaments that'll allow us to compete well.

Needless to say, we are very excited for what this season will hold for the Jackets. The team will compete in qualifying this week for our first tournament. The Ohio Dominican Classic is next Tuesday in Blacklick, Ohio. We've got 36 holes in one day so it'll be a great mental and physical test for us.

We're glad you chose to join us on this year's journey, and hopefully we'll see some of you on the links this year.


Taylor Holt is a senior from Dayton, Ohio and is majoring in business management.