Well folks, it's back to the daily grind, so to speak, with the Dakota Wesleyan freshman arriving and the upper classmen making their return, we are getting set to make a run at the National Championship.
Thanks to A LOT of work from Coach Adam Anderson, there will no longer be a conference and regional tournament. Now, that is not to say that we are just going to NOT play golf whatsoever, there is an entirely different breakdown of how everything is going to work. We are now having what has been named "National Qualifiers". At each qualifying site, in the fall the first tournament will be in the northern region and played at DWU's home course, Wild Oak, and the second tournament will be held in the southern region and played at a course that DWU struggled with, Wilderness Ridge. So, what happens now, you might ask? This is where the saying, "every stroke counts" really comes into play. At the end of the four National Qualifiers, teams' totals will be added up and the team with the lowest stroke average moves on to the National tournament. Now, I am still a LITTLE confused as to how it works because I am not 100% sure if the teams from the other conference will be joining us for these other tournaments. I am sure that they will, but I guess we'll have to find out. Coach Anderson wanted to work it this way for a number of different reasons. One being that we will NOT be missing four days of classes which is a HUGE bonus especially when the Conference and Regional tournament were so late in the year and close to finals and two because it allows us to measure the quality of play over a length of time, not just one 2-day tournament and best of luck to ya' sort of thing. So, look for more information to come on that, because it is quite an interesting format.
So, what else is there to write about? How about some of the incoming freshman an returning players.
We have already welcomed Billy Jarrett from England over to the team as he arrived Tuesday afternoon and was extremely jet lagged but he looks to be recovering nicely. We also have Derek DeVries, Lex Moore, Martyn Orme (from Ireland who is playing as a walk-on), Adam Shiffermiller who is a transfer from UNL, Adam Maloney, and Andrew Farrand.
The team also welcomes back Tyler "Evie" Evenson, Nick "Gater" Gates, Adam Golesh, Christopher "Pritchy" Pritchard and Kellen Weidner as well as new team captain, Brett "Big Canada" Abbotts who will have some pretty big shoes (even though they're only a size 8) to fill with the absence of former team captain Tommy Hoek.
Also, the men's team would like to extend a warm welcome to Assistant Coach Jenny Schneider who will be replacing Benjamin Irlbeck for the coaching staff. She brings a plethora of knowledge and wealth of experience to the table as she has tried qualifying for the LPGA tour several times. We all look forward at getting the chance to work and talk with Coach Schneider and be able to use her experience and knowledge on the golf course to better ourselves and our team.
I will start posting more on the blog as far as team qualifiers and the first few tournaments that we have coming up! So, keep reading and get ready for the next big thing with the DWU Men's golf team.
