2008 Woodie Awards
Golf team's preparation, focus leads to renewed confidence
Tim Curran
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Sports
California, here we come! The Loyola men's golf team kicks off the spring season next week at the Carlton Oaks Invitational in Santee, Calif. After placing 12th out of 15 teams in their last tournament of the fall (which also took place in California) the Greyhounds are returning to the West Coast with renewed vigor. With a fair share of seasoned veterans and a couple of up-and-coming underclassmen, head coach Tom Beidelman expects nothing less than a MAAC championship this spring.
The Greyhounds started off the fall season with a solid third-place finish at the Mid-Pines Intercollegiate Tournament in Pinehurst, N.C. The next couple of tournaments were played respectably but with much room for improvement.
Senior captains Matt Bassler and Chris Derby had outstanding overall performances throughout the fall, and Beidelman says the two captains are entering the spring determined to finish out their collegiate golf careers with a bang. Their goal: to bring the MAAC championship back to Loyola.
"As a team, we fell short of our expectations in the fall," said junior Mike Mulieri, one of Loyola's most consistent golfers last fall. "Although we might have reached or exceeded the expectations of others, we know how much talent we have, and until that is realized we won't be satisfied."
For the last two years, the golf team has fallen short of winning the MAAC championship, thus missing the opportunity to advance to the NCAA tournament. The team attributes this to a lack of preparation during the off-season. This year, however, is a different story.
"Throughout the winter our team has lived by the saying, 'Failure to prepare, prepare to fail,'" Mulieri said. "We are sick of falling short of our goal of bringing a championship back to campus and are willing to make sacrifices. We're playing with a chip on our shoulders in order to bring a championship home from Disney in April."
This new focus on preparation has revised the entire team's approach to competing.
"For the first time," Mulieri said, "I feel as if golf is my first priority and that we are all student athletes, as opposed to students who play golf as a hobby."
Organized swing-fundamental sessions as well as mandatory workouts have kept the team on their toes this off-season.
Beidelman has instituted weekly evaluations of each individual team member's progress, and meetings are held before every tournament to discuss team strategy.
"Everybody's dedicated, everybody's healthy," Beidelman says. "Because of that, our expectations are as high as the sky."
The Greyhounds started off the fall season with a solid third-place finish at the Mid-Pines Intercollegiate Tournament in Pinehurst, N.C. The next couple of tournaments were played respectably but with much room for improvement.
Senior captains Matt Bassler and Chris Derby had outstanding overall performances throughout the fall, and Beidelman says the two captains are entering the spring determined to finish out their collegiate golf careers with a bang. Their goal: to bring the MAAC championship back to Loyola.
"As a team, we fell short of our expectations in the fall," said junior Mike Mulieri, one of Loyola's most consistent golfers last fall. "Although we might have reached or exceeded the expectations of others, we know how much talent we have, and until that is realized we won't be satisfied."
For the last two years, the golf team has fallen short of winning the MAAC championship, thus missing the opportunity to advance to the NCAA tournament. The team attributes this to a lack of preparation during the off-season. This year, however, is a different story.
"Throughout the winter our team has lived by the saying, 'Failure to prepare, prepare to fail,'" Mulieri said. "We are sick of falling short of our goal of bringing a championship back to campus and are willing to make sacrifices. We're playing with a chip on our shoulders in order to bring a championship home from Disney in April."
This new focus on preparation has revised the entire team's approach to competing.
"For the first time," Mulieri said, "I feel as if golf is my first priority and that we are all student athletes, as opposed to students who play golf as a hobby."
Organized swing-fundamental sessions as well as mandatory workouts have kept the team on their toes this off-season.
Beidelman has instituted weekly evaluations of each individual team member's progress, and meetings are held before every tournament to discuss team strategy.
"Everybody's dedicated, everybody's healthy," Beidelman says. "Because of that, our expectations are as high as the sky."
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