Feb. 12, 2002
The 2002 men's golf season tees off this weekend in Katy, Texas, as the Tigers try to improve on a solid fall campaign at the Rice University Intercollegiate.
The Tigers' fall season was highlighted by a second place finish at the Nebraska Fairway Classic as well as a second place finish at the Purina Classic in St. Louis.
In those two tournaments, MU finished a combined five strokes behind the winners.
"Our team play was very consistent in the fall," said MU coach Tim Robyn. "Our average team score was considerably lower than it has been in the past. We are very encouraged with what we have done already and we are looking forward to the spring season."
The Tigers shaved six shots off their fall stroke average from a year ago but Robyn feels the most significant aspect of his team's play has stemmed from solid individual contributions.
"I think the most notable thing about the fall was how well our individuals played," said Robyn. "We had four different players finish in the top five and one player finish in the top five twice. That was great because we had multiple student-athletes performing at a high level."
MU senior Mark McBride is hoping to add to a consistent fall performance where he didn't finish outside the top 20. McBride highlighted his season by tying for medallist at the Purina Classic.
"[Mark] is a senior with a lot of experience. He always says the right things at the right times and we can always count on him," said Robyn.
Junior Chris Happ is also looking to improve upon his fall performance after finishing T-3rd at both the Fairway Classic and the Purina Classic.
Sophomores Brandon Knaub and Mike Radek also notched top five finishes in the fall and will be key to the Tigers' success this spring.
The Rice Intercollegiate is just the first leg of an arduous spring campaign for the Tigers. They will compete in nine tournaments over the course of the next three months.
"We do have a very aggressive schedule this season but we are becoming a very deep squad," said Robyn. "We have more experience from this lineup than we have had in any other season. I am looking for some of our individuals to step up and have a solid season."
Coach Robyn is comfortable with where his team stands entering this weekend's event. He is confident that the Tigers have what it takes to improve upon last year's T-8th place finish at the Rice Intercollegiate.
"We need to keep on doing what we did in the fall. We definitely feel capable of shooting some low numbers and we have improved on that already individually," said Robyn. "The key to the spring will be putting that all together during the course of one tournament. We need to stay focused on the things we can control, lowering our averages and having more and more quality tournaments."
The first two rounds of the Rice Intercollegiate will take place on Monday, Feb. 11. The third and final round will be played on Tuesday, Feb. 12.