Alex Sessums

Staff Writer

The men’s golf team is heading into the pinnacle of the spring portion of their season and the upcoming Sunshine State Conference Championship with high hopes.

After a high placing at the 33rd Matlock Invitational in Lakeland last week, the Sunshine State Conference tournament is coming just as the Mocs are reaching their stride.

The tournament will be played from April 13 -15 at the Lake Jovita Golf Course in Dade City and will include all of the Sunshine State Conference teams.

“The Lake Jovita Golf course is a fair course,” senior Tim Crouch said. “There will be some good scores.”

Of the field, the top four teams will qualify for the Regional Championship Tournament in Dooler, Georgia, which will be held at the Savannah Quarters Golf and Country Club.

Notable among the field is the Barry University team. During the coach’s pre-season team, the Buccaneers were voted the number one team among division II schools.

The team this year is led by the senior pair of Crouch and Shane Convery. In their final year on the team and last time at the championship, the senior duo have only one more shot at nationals.

“Our expectations are the same every year, which are to make it to nationals and to win it,”  Crouch said. “Anything less than that will be a disappointment.”

Crouch, a native of Ohio, among other honors, most recently won an individual Division II National Championship last season.

When asked about his teammate, Crouch, freshman Levin Hoffman said, “He has proven to be the backbone of the Mocs team, providing consistently low scores during the course of this year.”

Freshman Eric Yarrows remarked of how much of a presence he is to the team.

“He is a very strong player, not only in the physical aspects of the game, but also in the mental aspect,” Yarrows said. “He plots his way around the course and makes it look easy. He is a great player for me to model myself after as a young, growing college player.”

Crouch’s counterpart, Convery, is himself no stranger to success, having been played in every tournament this year.

The Mocs will need Crouch and Convery to bring his best game during the championship in order to have a successful championship.

However, the senior duo of Crouch and Convery are not the only members of the nine men Moc team looking to make an impact.

A number of freshman players, including William Duffie, Eric Yarrows, Jason Huntington and Levin Hoffman, are all looking to qualify for the five spots on the men’s team.

“I plan on trying to qualify for a spot on the five-man team in order to help out our team win the Sunshine State Conference Championship,” freshman William Duffie said. “And because we only take five players for each tournament, I am going to have to play to the best of my ability.”

Strong performances from the entire men’s team at the tournament may begin the Mocs successful path to Nationals.

 

Photo courtesy of fscmocs.com