Beginning Tuesday, a member of the University of South Alabama men's golf team will write each day about his and the team's experiences at the NCAA Southeast Regional this week. The Jaguars travelled to Alpharetta, Ga., Tuesday and will play a practice round Wednesday before competing in three rounds from Thursday-Saturday.
Freshman McLain Leberte from Huntsville filed a report on day one of the trip.
Traveling days are always fun but today it was time to get down to business...
6 a.m. wake-up call -- quick showers, throw on clothes, and run down to the van hoping you didn't forget anything is the typical morning of a practice round. We were peeling out of the parking lot by 6:45 and headed to a breakfast place nearby. Still in a daze from the early morning wake up, I ordered pancakes, eggs over hard, and bacon with a cup of orange juice (the breakfast of champions). It was a perfect way to start the day. Rejuvenated and recharged it was time to head to the golf course.
Pulling into the Capitol City Club it didn't take long for us to realize that this was an amazing course and facility. The course was in pristine shape, there wasn't a blade of grass out of place and the greens are like putting on ice. Not only is the course in phenomenal shape but the layout is all you can ask for from a championship golf course. Today in the practice round we quickly learned that tomorrow the key is to be patient and to pick our areas wisely. Coach is always a big help when it comes to course management.
Not many people understand how much work goes into one of our practice rounds. Coming out of high school my typical practice round was hit driver off every tee, hit an approach shot right at the pin, and maybe hit a couple putts... that quickly changed once I got to college. Just like a quarterback studies an opponent's defense by watching hours of film, we have to study every slope, every yardage mark, and think about all possibilities that could happen in a round of golf. A football team has a week to prepare for one game; we have one round of golf to prepare for three days, so we definitely have our work cut out. It is always fun going out there with the team. We joke around a little while walking to the next hole or green, but you also learn a lot from the upperclassmen. Jack and Marc have both helped me tremendously this year with my course management by just showing me how to plan a strategy for a particular course.
After the practice round, we stopped for a quick lunch, which was great, (thank you Capitol City Club) and then went to practice for a few hours. I went and worked on some different types of pitch and chip shots that I will probably encounter in the rounds to come (I hope it pays off). I then headed to the driving range to work on a few mechanics and rhythm issues to get ready for tomorrow. Coach came over and gave me a few pointers and like magic I was hitting it like a tour pro again. I love working with Coach, he makes everything seem so simple -- he is the best!
So after some good hard work on the range we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We met my grandparents, my mom and my girlfriend, as well as Blake's parents, at Macaroni Grill. I don't think they know how much it means to us for them to come up here to support us this week. It always feels good when you have some fans on your side (on that note, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Jaguar Nation for their support as we try to bring the school its first national championship). Dinner was great, and then it was time to head back to the hotel. We are about to get together for a team meeting and cover some details about the course. This is a great time to share notes we made on the course and discuss any questions we might have. Coach and Doc will give us some inspirational words, and then it will be time to head off to bed.
I am really excited about tomorrow and I can tell that everyone else is as well. I love this team, we really have a great chemistry. It is fun to see how everyone feeds off each other, we keep improving because of it. I feel so blessed not only to be doing this but to be doing this with my four of my best friends. These guys are like brothers to me and this team is my family on the road. I am honored to be going into battle tomorrow with these guys. Although we are such a young team, we have really matured this year and tomorrow is our opportunity to prove it. But as Coach has said over and over again this year, the only thing you can control is the shot in front of you, so the goal is to go out there and play one shot at a time and execute. It is going to be fun.
