The Emory golf team opened their fall season at the Rhodes Collegiate Classic last Sunday. The 36-hole tournament, which continued into Monday, took place in Tunica, Mississippi on the 4,204-yard par-72 Tunica National Golf Club course which has hosted U.S. Open sectional qualifiers in the past.
Four of the 18 teams Emory competed against in the tournament are ranked on the Division III Golf Coaches Association of America Preseason Poll (GCAAP), including No. 16 Rhodes College (Miss.), No. 13 Southwestern College (Kan.), No. 10 University of Texas at Tyler and No. 8 Transylvania College (Ky).
Emory was represented by the pairs of juniors
Jonathan Gerrard and Alex Lynch, sophomores Luke Lancaster and Sam Nichamin and freshman Keenan Hickton. Junior Vince Sirianni also competed as an individual.
After Sunday's play, Emory had a posted score of 318; Sirianni shot 78, Hickton and Lancaster shot 79, Jonathan and Nichamin shot 80, while Lynch shot 89.
"[Sunday] was a rough day for the Eagles," Nichamin said.
The wind provided the players with the challenge of not being able to get the ball up and down, along with a lot of pressure on their short game.
After losing three seniors last year, many players who did not play regularly in previous seasons are looking to get more comfortable playing and gain experience.
"We have a relatively young group of guysfrom an experience standpoint, but it is a unique experience because guys who haven't played a lot before now have the opportunity to step up," Head Coach John Sjoberg said. "Our goal is to get better each day, be smarter and be better at decision making,"
After four years at the helm of Emory's golf team, Sjoberg along with his nine returning players and two new players are looking to retain their University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship title.
The team is full of talent and ambition, butwhat really matters to the team is consistency.
"The team can all play well, now it's about playing well day in and day out," Sjoberg said. "Good teams are consistently shooting good scores, and that is what we want to do,"
Besides the relatively disappointing firstday of the Rhodes Collegiate Classic, the team is not discouraged yet.
"The team is really close. We have a good
group of guys and we are building team camaraderie," Nichamin said. "We have a good chance to play good golf, and we are excited to see what we can do."
Along with maintaining their UAA Championship title, the squad is aiming for the National Division III Championships, as well as winning the Emory Spring Invitational in April of 2015.
"The team is looking to move forward and make it to the National Championships, after we missed out on it last year," Nichamin said. "We are also hoping to play well and win the tournament that Emory hosts in the spring."
The team's next competition is the Al Jones
Memorial tournament at the Cascades Golf Course in Tyler, Texas from Sept. 29-30.
– By Hayley Silverstein
