Men's golf has sights set on NCAA regionals

Four nights ago found every cubicle in every library packed with students, computers and piles of books, as the Princeton community prepared itself for Dean's Date. However, for the men's golf team, Monday night also meant finding out which region they were going to compete in for the upcoming NCAA Regional tournament.

After winning the Ivy League Championship three weeks ago, the Tigers were guaranteed a spot in the NCAAs. The only question was what that seed would be.

Princeton was placed in the Central Regional, the same region in which the women were placed last week. For the men, the Regional tournament will be hosted by Purdue and held at Brick Boilermaker Golf Course, May 20-22. Both the players and coaches were very satisfied when their placement was announced.

"I think this is a really good scenario for us because the course is very difficult and par is a good score," head coach Will Green said. "Which suits us better than a course where teams have to make a lot of birdies."

The course, which is known to be windy and narrow, will prove a challenge for the Tigers. The keys to success will be consistency and minimizing mistakes. And though Princeton certainly has the talent to play high-quality golf, it will be up to the players on game day to keep their heads in the game and concentrate on the greens.

"We'll have to be accurate off the tee and disciplined enough to play with the wind rather than against it," Green said. "We must play consistently and minimize mistakes."

It will be crucial, however, that the Tigers come out strong early, rather than waiting until they are behind and the pressure is on. A solid opening round will be one of the team's highest priorities as it heads into the tournament.

"To start well means not having to make up ground, which is difficult on tough courses," Green said.

In order to step up their level of play the Tigers have been traveling around the New Jersey-Philadelphia area, trying to get as much course and driving-range time as possible.

"Even before we head to Regionals we'll all need to work on driving in the fairway and making better decisions on the golf course," sophomore Jason Gerken said.

That sought-after preparation time, however, is greatly impeded by the taxing end-of-semester work schedule all Princeton students, athletes or no, must face. With cramming for Dean's Date and exams occupying the immediate thoughts and priorities of the golfers, it is hard to get ample course time.

"We will be competing against the best teams in the country," Gerken said. "Teams that don't have the academic schedule that we have and teams that have had hours and hours to prepare."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Those opposing teams include Oklahoma St., Texas, TCU, Minnesota and Oklahoma, which are some of the top-ranked teams in the nation, and which will pose a huge threat to Princeton's plans for success. The Tigers, who are seeded No. 25 out of the 27 teams competing in the Central Regional tournament, will need to crack the top-10 if they hope to move on to nationals in early June.

"The teams we are playing against are the best we have played against all year, so we'll really have to raise the level of our games," senior captain Greg Johnson said. "Only the top 10 make it to NCAA finals."

That being said, however, the team is excited for the tournament to get under way. Johnson, who will be joined by Gerken and teammates junior Creighton Page, sophomore John Locke and freshman John Sawin, is confident in the team's talent and promising chances of making it to Virginia for the finals.

"Our team can't wait for the opportunity to compete," Johnson said. "If we play well we can definitely make it through to the finals."

With hard work and careful swinging, the Tigers think they certainly have a chance to make it to Nationals. And they are more than eager to put that prediction to the test.