University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Off the Tee, Day 2
2/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Off the Tee, Day 2
Day 2, the practice round, February, 9 2003
It was so great to sleep past 7 a.m. for once on a golf trip. We teed off at 12:30 p.m. on a cold and rainy day at English Turn. Definitely not your ideal weather for golf, but it is much better than work. We were all excited about playing the course and even more excited that we got to ride in carts. Carts are a luxury we are not accustomed to when preparing for the 18-hole hike, carrying a forty-pound sack of lightning rods.
It was only a practice round, but not for me. I played in the college-am tournament, which is a fundraiser that has a team of three boosters playing with one college golfer. The rest of the team played a foursome chaperoned by Coach Johnson, so I got to have fun while they were serious. My group consisted of three very nice gentlemen from Metairie, La. I would describe their ability on the course as weekend warrior caliber.
As the ?cats and dogs? came from the sky, we played like animals. We were all over the place. I almost lost my 3-iron in the water on number seventeen because the grip slipped. The rain would subside eventually, and the winds would gain strength, but we played on. Our score did us no justice because we enjoyed ourselves even though we didn?t win.
As we finished the round I met the guys, and we ventured into the massive clubhouse that was fit for a king. A dinner was waiting for us in the main ballroom. Of course the women?s teams were in there as well, and that was exciting. Coach Johnson felt the need to embarrass Mike Soroka by saying some corny stuff to this really pretty girl from UNO.
As we left the course on the way back to the hotel, we felt better prepared to tackle English Turn. We tee off at 7:30a.m. bright and early playing with Tennessee and East Tennessee State. We are hopeful for better weather tomorrow, but if not, we will be ready for the worst. You hardly ever come across a pretty day in the spring golf season. If the temperature is comfortable, the sun is shining, and the wind is not blowing, you are probably playing the practice round and not the tournament. That is usually how it goes in spring college golf. Nonetheless, we are all ready to tee it up to play our best golf tomorrow and Tuesday to bring home the trophy and start out the spring season right.
