Coming into the first tournament with such a young team, I had a feeling something had to give. And, the first day at Tannenhauf for Malone's annual tournament, it did. We shot 327 as a team. It was terrible, just awful. No one played well, myself included. The low for our squad was me with 78. After such a strong qualifier, this was a complete shock.

We are a young team, Cory Palmer and myself are the only upperclassmen as we are both seniors. Matt Crouch is a sophomore and rounding out the top five were freshmen Aaron Hale and Matt Wellman. After the round, Coach told us our round was embarassing and I think it sort of shocked a few guys into waking up. College golf is plenty different than any other competitive golf. The rules are always funky and they change with each tournament. You never know who is really good, so you have to assume everyone out there is an absolute stud. You cannot let your guard down for a second because the guys out there are true competitors, which I love.

After the round, the wiley old vets (myself, Palmer, Crouch and Coach O) went out for a movie to relax, while the freshmen stayed in the room to relax. To each their own I suppose, everyone blows off steam differently. Once the movie was over, we all spent some good quality team bonding time in my hotel room just sitting around laughing, joking and throwing chicken nuggets at Hale. It was good to see the guys with smiles back on their faces and forgetting about the bad round earlier in the day. That's the most important thing in golf - to have short memory because you never know when things will turn around and you can't dwell on the negative.

The next day, we decided to arrive at the course an hour earlier than we normally would to get in a little more prep time. It worked as we had solid showings from Matt Crouch with a 72, myself with a 73, and Aaron Hale with a 77. I knew Hale was going to play well by the way he was hitting it on the range, and when I saw him fist pump a putt on the 16th green like Tiger at the U.S. Open, I knew things were going well. We shot 302 as a team and carded our best score in over two years. It is very exciting to know we have this potential. This team is young, but I believe Coach O can mold these young guys into young men who know how to think their way around a golf course. We have so much potential it's scary. I am really, really, really, REALLY (did I mention really?) excited for my senior campaign with this crew.

On a side note, I finished 12th out of 66 and Matt finished 14th. On another side note, I had my first make from the fairway in a tournament round. I made a 2 on the par 4 7th from about 50 yards away. I was so upset with how I was playing I didn't even get to cherish it. That's golf.

We're headed to Campbellsville, Kentucky next Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday! I'll keep all of the Cougar faithful updated on our progress! Wish us luck!