Sam Houston hits links for season opener
9/13/2015 10:05:00 AM | Men's Golf
The two-time defending Southland Conference champion Sam Houston State men's golf team hits the links for the first time against competition Monday, traveling to Hattiesburg, Miss., for the two-day Sam Hall Intercollegiate, hosted by Southern Miss and Hattiesburg Country Club.
The open to the 2015-16 season will feature several new faces with five seniors, including three starters from a season ago, concluding their eligibility. Even with the youthful group, highlighted by four freshmen and two redshirt freshmen, among the 11-man roster, the expectations remain consistent.
“This year, we'll be playing three freshmen, which I'm excited about because they know our goals,” fourth-year head coach Brandt Kieschnick said. “I think this team can be as good if not better than what we've had. Adding youth on top of that, we can sustain that good play for the next four to five years. These new guys are playing at a high level and that's why we recruited them.”
Among the key returnees is junior Andrew Ertel, who posted three top-10 finishes a season ago and has fired 12-under over his last four rounds. The Woodlands product says he has embraced his new role as veteran on the squad.
“It's been a big change for me,” Ertel said. “I've always been one of the younger guys on the team or a redshirt or a new transfer here and now I'm the old guy. I have to be in charge of them and help them get acquainted with everything so it's a completely different role but I've enjoyed it so far.”
Kieschnick believes Ertel and sophomore Jake McCrory, who emerged as one of the conference's premier freshmen a season ago, add an important dynamic to team because of their experience at the NCAA Regionals.
“I think they've both assumed that (leadership) role,” Kieschnick said. “Andrew could be a record-setter, he's that talented. We're going to try to get him to play at his highest level and encourage him to bring these freshmen along. They can certainly pass some stuff along to these new guys.”
The Bearkats take part in four tournaments this fall, including hosting the Bayou City Collegiate Championship, alongside Houston and Rice at Pearland's Golfcrest Country Club on Oct. 12-13. The Collegiate will be the lone in-state fall tournament with trips to Denver and Las Cruces, N.M., also in store.
“Coach gets us all over the country, so not matter what Regional we go to, we'll have seen similar conditions,” Ertel said. “We'll go to Denver and play in altitude, go to the west coast and play those greens and we'll go into more humidity in Mississippi. We went out to Washington last year but we had seen Baylor a bunch and we'd seen South Carolina before so that helps with the comfort level.”
In their opener, the Kats will play 36 holes Monday and the final 18 on Tuesday, with live results available on GolfStat.com. A season ago, the Kats finished fifth, shooting a combined 1-under at the par-71, 6,902-yard course.
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