Home cooking makes OSU hungrier for NCAA
By Zack Meisel
Imagine the Ohio State football team playing the BCS Championship at The Horseshoe. Picture the basketball squads partaking in the Final Four at the Schott. Well, the men’s golf team has been granted the opportunity to host a postseason tournament on their home course. This weekend’s NCAA Central Regional will take place Thursday through Saturday at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.
Twenty-seven schools, ranging from Michigan to Florida, will travel to Columbus, where the top ten teams and two golfers advance to the NCAA Championships. The Buckeyes should greatly benefit from playing on a course that they are so familiar with, freshman Michael Cress said.
“We have played this course almost five days a week for the past six months, so obviously there is a huge advantage,” he explained. “We know how to score well at Scarlet, whereas a lot of other teams aren’t used to a course this difficult. You couldn’t ask for a better scenario to win regionals.”
The experience in playing the Scarlet Course could serve as the difference between advancing and heading home, head coach Jim Brown added.
“I think there’s a very distinct advantage, maybe a shot a man, which is a lot in a tournament,” he said. “That’s twelve shots if everybody saves a shot. A lot of the kids down south haven’t played courses like this. We’re going to have a lot of rough out here, and the greens are a little different from what they’re used to playing. We know where to miss it, and where the pins are going to be. We’re hoping that we can use that advantage that’s there to our advantage.”
Knowledge of how to approach each hole could result in the team achieving their desired success, junior Vaughn Snyder said.
“There are a few holes on our course that you have to play a certain way, and the majority of the field won’t know to play them that way,” he explained. That should translate into a lot of bogeys on holes where you should have no business making bogeys.”
The Buckeyes enter the regional tournament as the #19 seed. Seeing as how only ten teams will advance to the NCAA Championships in Lafayette, Indiana in two weeks, Ohio State must make up some ground on the top tier of golf squads, Coach Brown said.
“Our philosophy going into this tournament is that we’re not going out there trying to play for tenth place,” he explained. “We’re trying to win it. If you try to win and you’re up there at the top, obviously you're going to qualify.”
The team must remain focused on first place, rather than accepting a tenth place finish, Snyder added.
“If you’re out there trying to win, and you don’t achieve your goal, then you’re still second or third, and that’s still good enough to advance,” he said. “But if you’re out there just trying to finish in the top ten, and you don’t do that, then you’re sitting home once the NCAAs roll around.”
The critical factor for the Buckeyes will be maintaining confidence throughout the three day contest, Cress said.
“We are extremely confident on this golf course, and that will be the difference between us and other teams,” he noted. “This is a huge advantage, and can mean the difference between first and eleventh. We just have to play our own game and not be intimidated by some of the teams that will be here.
“We’re competing against All-Americans and conference champions, but in reality it’s just us out there. The seeding isn’t a concern at all, because we can play with any team in the country. It’s simply a matter of realizing that and playing confident.”
Scoring-wise, totals in the sixties and low seventies will be par for the course (pun intended). This team contains several golfers who have proven they can shoot par or better under the most demanding conditions, Snyder said.
“Even par is going to be a really good score the next two weeks, and that definitely caters to our team,” he explained. “We have a lot of guys who, on tough golf courses, shoot right around par, which is definitely going to help us out.”
Senior co-captain Kyle Coconis, sophomore Patrick Simard, and freshman Bo Hoag have each totaled at least four rounds in the sixties. To replicate those impressive scores, each golfer must play one stroke at a time, and maintain a focused mindset, Brown proclaimed.
“We want them to play one hole at a time, one shot at a time,” he explained. “No one shot is more important than another one. The most important shot is the one that you’re about to hit. You can’t worry about what has happened in the past, the last hole, or the last shot. You just have to focus hard on the upcoming shot and do the best you can on that shot, and make good decisions out there on the golf course.”
Focusing on each individual shot means avoiding thoughts of pressure or anxiety, Cress said.
“There is pressure in almost everything you do in life, and this is no different. We will try to treat it like any other tournament, but obviously there is a lot more at stake. However, we have a great group of guys who don’t get rattled and who want to make their family, friends and university proud. The pressure just makes us focus harder and ultimately play better, so we welcome the pressure.”
The players and coaches know that the mental edge will be more important in postseason play than it was during the regular season, Cress added.
“Unlike the regular season, this is lose and go home,” he said. “During the regular season you have time to practice after a bad tournament and regroup before the next, but this week could be our last. We want to give our seniors the chance to play in NCAAs as their last collegiate tournament.”
Coach Brown knows that he’s leading a group capable of advancing to the NCAA Championships. The privilege to play the NCAA qualifier at Ohio State’s home course makes this team strive harder to reach that destination.
“The ultimate goal is to qualify for the NCAA Championships, and we’ve got that right in front of us,” Brown said. “It’s on our plate now, right here at our home course.”
Originally Published: Issue 648 - May 14, 2008
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