The men’s golf team looks to win its second tournament of the year as it travels to Kingston Springs, Tennessee this weekend to take part in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup at the Golf Club of Tennessee.
The 21st-ranked Gamecocks are coming off its first win of the season after shooting a final-round score of 276 (-12) on Sept. 7 at The Carpet Capital Collegiate at The Farm Golf Club. South Carolina is looking to build off its momentum against the likes of SEC/ACC teams, including Georgia, Clemson, Texas A&M, Duke and Missouri.
Junior Will Starke, who lead the Gamecocks in its last tournament with a total score of -7, feels good going into the upcoming tournament, and hopes the team can build off its come-from-behind win.
“It was really big for our program. It was filled with the best teams you’ll see in college, and really gives us a huge confidence boost as we head down to Nashville,” Starke said. “We’re still hungry and want to prove ourselves that we can go out and compete with any team in the country.”
Starke graded the team's performance at a B to B plus level so far this season.
Coming off of its most recent tournament win, head coach Bill McDonald feels it was a good stepping stone for his team going forward.
“It was a tremendous win for our program, and hopefully our guys believe in just how good they are and what they are capable of,” he said.
This is the second Collegiate Challenge Cup, but first time for the Gamecocks participating in the tournament.
Last year, Georgia took home the team title, while Texas A&M’s Ben Crancer took home the individual title. The SEC as a whole took home the title as “Top Conference” from last years cup as well.
At this year’s tournament, the Gamecocks will be paired off with ACC foe Virginia, and fellow SEC member Texas A&M for the first two rounds. Tee time for round one is at 8 a.m.
The host club, The Golf Club of Tennessee, opened up for member play in March 1991, and has hosted a number of local, state and national amateur and pro-am events. PGA Tour player and Nashville native Brandt Snedeker is a member at the club.
With the tough competition from the SEC and ACC, Starke knows what the team must do, in order for them to be in contention this upcoming weekend.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. We’ve been playing well on the back nine, which was our Achilles' heel last season. We’ve been focusing on that as a team,” he said. “If we keep playing how we’ve been playing so far, we’ll start accomplishing the goals we’ve set for ourselves in the offseason.”
After the tournament this weekend, the Gamecocks are off until October 18 to 19, when the team will play host of the Camden Collegiate Invitational at the Camden Country Club in Camden, South Carolina.