University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Shortened Men’s Golf Season Forecasts Bright Days Ahead
4/2/2020 8:37:00 AM | Men's Golf
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Despite the cancellation of the final three regular season tournaments and the Conference USA event, the Southern Miss men's golf team made tremendous strides during the 2019-20 campaign.
For second-year coach Eddie Brescher, the ending was tough for his team, but he certainly understood the circumstances of its cancellation.
"To have our season come to an abrupt end was tough," said Southern Miss golf coach Eddie Brescher. "However, the health and safety of everyone involved with our program is the top priority. In life we are faced with a lot of adversity and this is just another example of that. We will press on and get past all of this."
During the season, the Golden Eagles started the year by posting school records for lowest round (272), 36 holes (557) and 54 holes (829), all coming their home event, the Sam Hall Intercollegiate, to start the year at the Hattiesburg Country Club.
For the first time in many years, six Golden Eagles posted average scoring rounds under 74 for the season, including freshman Robbie Latter (Mississauga, Ontario), who registered a 72.29 scoring average. Junior Brice Wilkinson (Madison, Miss.) added a 72.46 stroke average, while freshman Thongpipat Rattanayanon (Bangkok, Thailand) added a 73.00.
Sophomore Joey Kirkland (West Monroe, La.) added a 73.33 scoring average, along with senior Matt Lorenz (Fairhope, Ala.) at 73.67 and senior Walker Kesterson (Hartsburg, Mo.) at 73.71.
The Golden Eagles enjoyed three top five finishes and a total of four top 10 finishes and the team collected a second-place and two third-place showings over their eight tournaments.
"One of the best things you can do is set records. Having our team set a number of records this year (individually and team) is something to hang your hat on," said Brescher. "These guys are getting better and better each year. It is showing in the numbers. Now that we have the depth in our roster that we have been searching for, you are starting to see records fall and results happen in our program."
Another improvement was the wins against opponents, as the Golden Eagles posted a 65-47-2 record against their opponents during the year.
"I am proud of the progress our program has made in recent years," said Brescher. "We have changed up our training routing by moving around to different courses for practice. This is so important for the development of our players. We show up to courses, sometime without even knowing the course, and compete against teammates for traveling time. This is exactly what we will face in tournaments. We travel all across the country to play events and courses that we are not familiar with. So we do this with our qualifying rounds to see how our players deal with the pressure of being unfamiliar with playing conditions."
The Golden Eagles will be back and ready for the 2020-21 season better than ever.
For second-year coach Eddie Brescher, the ending was tough for his team, but he certainly understood the circumstances of its cancellation.
"To have our season come to an abrupt end was tough," said Southern Miss golf coach Eddie Brescher. "However, the health and safety of everyone involved with our program is the top priority. In life we are faced with a lot of adversity and this is just another example of that. We will press on and get past all of this."
During the season, the Golden Eagles started the year by posting school records for lowest round (272), 36 holes (557) and 54 holes (829), all coming their home event, the Sam Hall Intercollegiate, to start the year at the Hattiesburg Country Club.
For the first time in many years, six Golden Eagles posted average scoring rounds under 74 for the season, including freshman Robbie Latter (Mississauga, Ontario), who registered a 72.29 scoring average. Junior Brice Wilkinson (Madison, Miss.) added a 72.46 stroke average, while freshman Thongpipat Rattanayanon (Bangkok, Thailand) added a 73.00.
Sophomore Joey Kirkland (West Monroe, La.) added a 73.33 scoring average, along with senior Matt Lorenz (Fairhope, Ala.) at 73.67 and senior Walker Kesterson (Hartsburg, Mo.) at 73.71.
The Golden Eagles enjoyed three top five finishes and a total of four top 10 finishes and the team collected a second-place and two third-place showings over their eight tournaments.
"One of the best things you can do is set records. Having our team set a number of records this year (individually and team) is something to hang your hat on," said Brescher. "These guys are getting better and better each year. It is showing in the numbers. Now that we have the depth in our roster that we have been searching for, you are starting to see records fall and results happen in our program."
Another improvement was the wins against opponents, as the Golden Eagles posted a 65-47-2 record against their opponents during the year.
"I am proud of the progress our program has made in recent years," said Brescher. "We have changed up our training routing by moving around to different courses for practice. This is so important for the development of our players. We show up to courses, sometime without even knowing the course, and compete against teammates for traveling time. This is exactly what we will face in tournaments. We travel all across the country to play events and courses that we are not familiar with. So we do this with our qualifying rounds to see how our players deal with the pressure of being unfamiliar with playing conditions."
The Golden Eagles will be back and ready for the 2020-21 season better than ever.
Players Mentioned
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