Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: Sports

Kenna Corley/Collegian photographerKenneth Wright, business administration sophomore, tees off Sunday at Hard Scrabble Golf Course in Fort Smith, Ark. [Click to enlarge]

The average golfer isn't thinking about hitting the links anytime soon. Blustery winds daily and either ice or sleet almost weekly don't make for the best playing conditions. While the leisurely type waits for perfect conditions, the men's and women's golf teams are loading up for the spring season. Their first meet was this week at Hard Scrabble Golf Course in Fort Smith, Ark. Scores were unavailable at press time. The team has learned to take every chance they have to get a look at the course. Rachael Locke, business administration senior, said, "When you don't have the proper weather conditions to physically prepare your golf game, you have to mentally be ready. With us having Kansas weather lately, we have all just had to catch any time we can to go out there and putt around, hit a few balls, or play holes." The weather conditions mean the players often have to practice swinging a club and not actually hitting any golf balls. Not only does the snow have to melt, but the course has to dry before they can play. While the course is unplayable, the team has a new workout regimen to help keep them active. It has yielded positive results. Locke said, "Coach came up with a workout for us to go by. It includes such things as arm strengthening, a couple leg workouts, abs, and we can do cardio if we like to warm us up. We are also supposed to be doing specific golf stretches to increase our flexibility. I know a few of us who have kept up with this workout have noticed a change." The teams know that good can come with the bad weather. Westin Weeast, business administration junior, said, "Overall it helps us prepare for tournaments that will have that kind of weather. In that respect it is beneficial." The team has high expectations going into the season. The men are the returning conference champions. They are equipped with three of the top five ranked golfers in the conference. Kenneth Wright, business administration sophomore, Tyler Lytton, business administration senior, and Levi Mooreland, sports management senior, are ranked 1st, 4th, and 5th respectively overall. Lytton said, "Us and Bethany are way out in front of the competition. They are slightly ahead of us at the moment. They are ranked nationally. They don't intimidate us, but they are a lot better than they were last year. They have improved and we are equal. We should beat them when it comes down to it. " The team believes they are on the brink of being ranked nationally. Mooreland said, "I think our team doesn't have a huge amount of respect because we don't see a lot of nationally ranked teams each week. Last year we won seven tournaments and didn't get that respect. We didn't play up to our level at the beginning of the year, but this semester I see us getting off the ground running." The Fort Smith tournament is the first of the spring. After a few weeks off, the teams have tournaments almost every week. Most of the competitions are two day events so plenty of class is missed. The golfers have found ways around that quite successfully. Locke said, "Most of the professors are understanding. Of course there are a couple that get that look on their face when they find out they have golfers in their class. Other than that, we get the homework ahead of time and they let us make up quizzes before or after we get back." When the tournaments do start to fire up, the teams expect the competition to rise with it. Mooreland said, "After spring break it's pretty much week-to-week matches. At the home tournament it's pretty well going to be a death battle with us and Bethany." Anthony Cook is a junior majoring in communication. You may e-mail him at anthony.cook@sckans.edu.

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