Trinity Men's Golf Preview 2010-11

The Trinity Tigers men’s golf team had five seniors graduate after the 2010 season.

That definitely is the loss of a lot of experience. But second-year head Coach Craig McConnell has some talented newcomers, and returnees with golf savvy.

“It’s a different team than last year’s,” says Coach McConnell, a former Tiger standout. “Our team is young, but we are gaining experience all the time. It’s a chance for these guys to show they want to be college golfers. The base for the future is here.”

One returning golfer who has made tremendous progress is sophomore Geoffrey Setiawan (Jakarta, Indonesia/International Community School). In the fall of 2010, Setiawan was ranked No. 19 among NCAA Division III golfers in par-5 scoring, according to the Golfstat system. He averaged a score of 4.71 per round, and finished in the top-15 in two of the three Trinity tournaments (No. 13 at the John Bohmann Memorial at Seguin, Texas; and 11^th at the Fall Intercollegiate at Killeen, Texas).

Last season, Setiawan recorded an average of 77.31, with a low score of 73. He placed once in the top-10, and twice in the top-20. During the ConCan Inercollegiate Classic, held at ConCan, Texas, Setiawan tied for seventh place. He finished 13^th at the 54-hole Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament, at Stone Mountain, Ga.

Now, back to the newcomers, who are already making waves on the national scene.

Trinity’s first-year golfers are ranked No. 21 in the nation by a Golfstat program  - called freshman impact - which gauges scoring and competition. Two of the golfers  - Austin Jung and Erik Long-Goheen - have played in the main lineup in the fall, and average 77.57 strokes. Their “relative strength” is 301.059, placing them ahead of Puget Sound, Schreiner, Albion, and Carleton on the national scope.

Jung (Lubbock, Texas/Lubbock) averaged 77.29 in the fall tournaments. His best score was a 72, which he attained at the Bohmann Memorial. Jung placed 22^nd at the Bohmann and No. 21 at the Fall Intercollegiate Invitational. He finished No. 32 at the Trinity-hosted SCAC Fall Preview at Horseshoe Bay, Texas.

Long-Goheen (Phoenix/Desert/Vista) scored 77.86 per round, with a low of 72, also at the Bohmann Memorial (a No. 20 finish). He had the best Trinity performance at the SCAC Fall Preview, in the 21^st position.

Also joining the team are Tyler Lehmann (Houston/Lamar) and Dylan Ellett (Austin, Texas/Lake Travis).

Sophomore Matt McClure (Southlake, Texas/Carroll) played the Bohmann Memorial and placed 25^th, with an average score of 74.33, and a low of 72. Blake Turner (Katy, Texas/Taylor) competed in all three tournaments, and registered an average of 79.14. Turner shot the best Tiger round of the fall, a second-round 71 at the Bohmann Memorial. He placed one stroke behind Setiawan for 14^th place.

Junior Eric Davis (Greencastle, Ind./Greencastle) averaged 81 in the seven rounds of fall golf, and hit a low score of 74 at the Bohmann Memorial. Last season, Davis played five rounds for an average of 79.6, and a top-20 finish (a low of 75).

The lone senior, Dan Maurer (Longmart, Colo./Dawson) returned in the fall after an injury. Maurer produced an average of 78.67 at the Bohmann Memorial, and shot a 74 in the second round.

Trinity’s men open their spring season Feb. 20 at the Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. Collegiate Invitational at Laguna Vista, Texas. Last year, the Tigers were team runners-up, in a tournament which included scholarship players.

The Tigers then travel to Kerrville, Texas, Feb. 28, for the Schreiner Men’s Spring Shootout.

Trinity will compete in the TLU Intercollegiate, at Blanco, Texas, starting March 14. The tournament, formerly known as the ConCan Intercollegiate, has special significance for the Tigers. Trinity won the 2010 tournament in ConCan, Texas, by 11 strokes over the host Texas Lutheran Bulldogs. In addition, the Tigers received a national ranking of No. 22 by the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches’ Division III Poll.

Trinity will again compete in the Jekyll Island Collegiate Invitational March 18 at Jekyll Island, Ga. The Tigers placed 16^th of 27 teams at last year’s tournament.

The 54-hole SCAC Championship, hosted by Trinity, is slated to open April 22, at a familiar course, the Horseshoe Bay Resort’s Ram Rock Course.

"Ram Rock is one of the hardest courses in the state,” says Coach McConnell. “When you are playing a hard golf course, it’s how you respond to mistakes that makes the difference. I think we have the potential to be a really good team.”

The Tigers finished fifth at the 2010 SCAC Championship at Stone Mountain.