[Men's Golf] Men's Golf ready for KCAC Second Leg

The Kansas Wesleyan men's golf team hasn't forgotten the pain of finishing second in the Kansas Conference's Second Leg a year ago, just five shots behind rival Bethany.

 

Coach Randy Syring, though, wants his golfers to set aside the disappointment when they begin play in this year's tournament Monday at Buffalo Dunes Golf Course in Garden City. The 54-hole event concludes Tuesday.

 

"It's been a good motivator for them to work even harder this year to get into position to hopefully seal the deal out there," Syring said.

 

"But I don't want them thinking about that on the course, I just want them taking care of business, taking it one shot at a time and add them up at the end."

 

The Coyotes have a 10-stroke lead over Oklahoma Wesleyan (620-630) that they built during the KCAC's First Leg on March 18-19 at Crestview Country Club in Wichita. Sterling is third (635), Ottawa fourth (641) and Bethany fifth (642).

 

KWU's Troy Watson (JR/Coffeyville, Kan.) is the individual leader after posting a 72-77—149 total, one shot ahead of teammate Coleman Houk (SR/Lawrence, Kan.) (73-77) and three shots in front of Ottawa's Cameron Cross (68-84).

 

"We've got to go out and play like we've been playing," Syring said. "We've got to play to win rather than not to lose, that's how we're going to approach it."

 

"We've all had a really good spring semester," said Watson, a junior from Coffeyville. "We got off to a slow start, but we really got in some good practice. Finishing second really helps motivate us to work harder and finish the job this year."

 

Having played Buffalo Dunes last year helps and Syring had a chance to view the course during the KCAC Women's Second Leg on April 22-23.

 

"I've got a pretty good idea how the course is playing," he said. "All the other coaches were there, too, but I tried to pay pretty close attention to the firmness and speed of the greens. The roughs are thick. The wind always blows, we've been working all week on controlling trajectories and keeping it into the wind, so I think we're prepared for that."

 

Watson said the first shot on each hole will be crucial.

 

"You've got to hit the fairways to start out, you can't play your second shots from the rough," he said. "Hit the fairways and if we hit the greens I think we can score well."

 

It will be the Coyotes' first event since winning the Bethel Invitational on April 6-7. They've won their last three tournaments, starting with the First Leg.

 

Syring and Watson agree the break has been beneficial.

 

"We've tried to mix in some in-team competition just to stay competitively sharp," Syring said. "I think everybody's well-rested and they've had time to practice. I think overall it's been a positive."

 

"I think it's been good to have a couple of weeks off mentally," Watson said. "It's helped us relax and work on what we need to work on. We've had some team matches that have been competitive, so I think we'll be ready."

 

Watson is on a role of late, having set a Salina Country Club course record with a 10-under par 61 on Wednesday. The previous record was 62 held by several golfers the past 13 years.

 

"I played out of my mind early, it was just a really good day for me," he said. "I made everything in sight with my putter, so that always helps."

 

Watson hopes the hot streak continues through Tuesday.

 

"I think we're all aggressive players and we all want to go out there and post the low score for our team each day," he said. "That's been the mindset for us."