SXU Athletics
The men’s golf team is swinging through each tournament, as the end of their fall season quickly approaches on Oct. 14.
At their last tournament, the Chicago State Invite, the Cougars placed fourth out of five teams. The men’s total score was a 628 with 324 on the first day and 304 on the following day.
The Cougars’ individual scores were across the board.
Junior Kyle Bahnick tied with another golfer for 15th place with a score of 152 (78, 74).
With a score of 155 (81, 74), freshman Michael Perez also had a tie, but for 18th place.
Sophomore Kyle Yaeger scored a 165 (89, 76), landing him a spot in 35th place.
Out of a total of 42 golfers, junior Zachary Trent tied for 30th place, scoring a 161 (81, 80).
This past tournament was actually Trent’s favorite thus far this fall.
“It is a beautiful course in both the quality and the layout and is just a perfect mixture of challenging and fun,” said Trent.
The team has been going at a good, steady rate this fall, and head coach Mike Mandakas is content with the men’s performance.
“The strong points halfway through the season have been the consistent scores we have been shooting,” said Mandakas.
However, that does not go to say that the team is performing at a perfect level either.
Mandakas continued, “The weakness [of the team] is not [hitting] enough low scores yet.”
Since the program is just in its third year and since the team has new talent this year as first-year students join the team and seniors will soon be graduating, they are constantly working to adjust and maintain a level of familiarity with each other.
“Last year we graduated three of our top five players, [and] now the program rests on the shoulders of our underclassmen and our freshman recruit. There is a large amount of youth on the team which is always a good sign, but we will need to work together to stay as cohesive as we were last year,” said Trent.
Everyone has high hopes for the finish of this season and what is to come in the spring.
“The spring season is another shot at the national championship; this is where our eyes have been focused since the formation of the Saint Xavier golf program, [and that] is where [our eyes] will continue to stay,” continued Trent.
The Cougars are hosting the next tournament they will be playing, which is the SXU Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Fall Preview, on October 3rd at Flossmoor Country Club.
With this tournament come mixed feelings from both the team and Mandakas.
“We are looking forward to playing Flossmoor, because we feel we have an advantage over our opponents. We are fortunate enough to play there frequently, and it will be a good preview for our conference championship that we are hosting there in April,” said Mandakas.
However, with this excitement comes anxiety.
“There is an amount of additional pressure added onto us for hosting the tournament, as expectations will obviously be high. Not that we do not look forward to this, [but] we have always been underdogs ever since our first year in the 2012-2013 season, and our conference win the year after, [so] as a team we are both excited and anxious,” said Trent.
For Mandakas, the SXU tournament will be slightly different for him, in terms of what his normal mindset is during a tournament.
“I have run many golf tournaments in my professional career and knowing all that goes into running the event will take away from some of the coaching I would normally do,” he said.
The team has implemented a plan to overcome their struggles in hopes of making it an even more successful season.
“Our biggest struggle this year has been finding balance on and off the course. We have to rely on a new group of people to step up and create the team bond that leads to greatness, and this takes time. Each day we grow closer to one another, but we are not quite there yet,” said Trent.
Trent and the rest of his teammates have faith in each other and know that together they can accomplish their goals.
“Our strong points lie in the attitudes we all carry. Each one of us knows where we want to take this program and are willing to put in as much time as we can to achieve our vision,” Trent said.
After the tournament on their home course, the Cougars will travel to Fulton, Missouri, to play the William Woods Invite at the Tanglewood Golf Center on Monday and Tuesday.
Alexis Flamburis
Sports Correspondent
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