JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman men's golf team better check the forecast before they pack its takes off for this week's Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate in Orange Park, Fla.
The potential snow forecasted for Mossy Creek will change to sunshine down in the Sunshine State as the Eagles open the 2015 spring season in the tournament hosted by Wingate and Lincoln Memorial at the Country Club of Orange Park in Orange Park, Fla.
During the three-month layoff between October's McDonough Cup and the Spring Kickoff, golf coach Randy Wylie made a detailed plan for each player to improve upon and get ready to defend the team's South Atlantic Conference Championship.
"Each player had an individualized practice program and what they needed to do. Some guys needed some swing work, technique stuff. Others were hitting a lot of balls, getting shots up basically," Wylie said. "Several of the guys on the team actually played in a tournament in Florida competed over the winter, which is actually the way to go because it makes you less stale coming into the spring that you got some competition in between. Otherwise, it's a three-month period without a tournament."
The team for the first event of 2015 consists of two juniors, a sophomore and two freshmen. The top-ranked qualifier is sophomore Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.). Junior Nicklaus Kennedy (London, Ontario), junior Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.), freshman Steven Hill (Knoxville, Tenn.) and freshman Ben Kennard (Corryton, Tenn.) round out the squad.
"They have some experience now and I expect them to play at a higher level of mental maturity to play more like sophomores," Wylie said of his two freshman competing this week. "Stephen Hill played really well in qualifying and he really played a couple of really good rounds for us in the fall, so I expect him to improve on that. Ben Kennard did some great work on his technique over the winter. That should help him going forward so he can have more confidence in what he is doing with his team."
The tournament will be played on the par-72, 6,935-yard course that features a water hazard on 14 of the 18 holes.
The Eagles will play three rounds over Monday and Tuesday. Daily results will be available on cneagles.com and on Twitter, @cnathletics.
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