Golf team continue on with strong season

Coming off of a third place finish at the IVCC Invitational, September 14-15, the Parkland Cobras golf team looks stronger than ever. Winning may be the ideal goal, but finishing in the top three is one accomplishment that no team should be ashamed of.

Cobras Golf was looking very strong, as a team, but individually as well. Sophomore stand out David Keenan fired a two over par round of 73 on Saturday and a four over par 75 to equal a modest two round combination of 148 and share a tie for third with Xavier Owens from the College of DuPage.

All in all, the season is looking very good for Cobras Golf, as they have already won one tournament and finished third in the last two, both featuring a strong field of teams and players.

The Cobras looked exceptional in the IVCC Invite, where they finished third of 22 teams. The team managed just as well at an even tougher, albeit smaller, tournament, where they finished third out nine teams.

The John A. Logan Invitational is one of the strongest tournaments the Cobras play every fall season. In it, they face Rend Lake and host John A. Logan. The Cobras played very well as the team fired a two round score of 313-312 to equal 625.

When asked about their performance at the invite, sophomore Mason Silver responded by saying, “Getting third is definitely not a bad thing, but we have room to improve on our showing at Kokopelli. However, there was a big plus on the weekend. Kennan won the medalist honors, so it is always nice to see that.”

“I knew that our expectations were to get first. We knew we really didn’t play that well and after the first day, we were down seven strokes and I thought, ‘Well, we were down the first tournament and we ended up winning that, so maybe it could happen again,’” freshman Austin Egbers replied.

Keenan added, “It was definitely disappointing because we felt that we needed to go in there with a good showing against Logan and put a little scare in them about Regionals, but we obviously didn’t come out and play too well, but it happens to the best of us.”

Not meeting expectations can take a toll on a team. Knowing that you can get better over the course of the season not only motivates the team, but makes them a better and more humble team as a result.

Having motivation from all members of a team is important for success. Without motivation, a team would have nothing to strive for and nothing from which to learn. For the Cobras golf team, motivation is all they have.

Winning the first tournament of the year motivated the team not only for the rest of the fall season, but raised expectations for the spring season, as well. They all feel that after the first tournament win, they can compete in every tournament and reach their ultimate goal of a national championship.

“I am really excited about the rest of the season. We have a lot of potential and I only see us getting better as the year goes on. Even though our fall season is starting to wind down, we want to give teams in our conference a glimpse at what we will have to offer in the spring,” Silver said.

Egbers replied, “I’m pretty excited. We play in Chicago so that will be a fun one. Then we play in Tennessee in the spring. Of course, our main goal is to make it to nationals, so I’m excited.”

Playing well with the team is one important factor in golf, but golf is an individual sport and each player should feel confident with their game.

For Cobras Golf, Keenan is playing just as well as anyone in the conference, having recently won the John A. Logan tournament individually. With so many good players in the field, this is quite an accomplishment.

Keenan described how he felt about the win by saying, “It feels pretty good, I was close the last two weeks and the last few tournaments. It felt good to break through and win as an individual. I have been working very hard and it has paid off.”

Having great momentum from tournament to tournament helps a player immensely. For Keenan, as a sophomore he is living up to his game and playing better than ever. This win proves that he is not only one of the best in the conference, but arguably one of the best in the state and perhaps even the nation.