Golf places eighth in tune up for Horizon League Tournament
When the Raiders hit the tee at the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational over the weekend, they didn’t know what to expect. They left with more questions than answers heading into next week’s Horizon League tournament.
“It was a little disappointing,” said senior Jordan Higgins. “We didn’t play our best, but we were also out one of our players, Cody Nickson. We got some production out of Paul VanDeventer [and] he came out and took the role of Nickson because he was our next guy in line.”
Though VanDeventer finished 74th overall after shooting a four-round score of 238, he couldn’t make up for the production of Nickson. Without one of their top performers, Wright State finished eighth in the fifteen team tournament.
Nickson, who’s battling a hip injury, was disappointed that he couldn’t play. But another Cody (Fixari) led the team by shooting a 211, the eleventh-best individual score.
“I played with Cody the first day and he hit the ball really well,” said Higgins. “He’s putting it really great. This is the third time he’s led the team out of our four events this year, so he’s really been consistent.”
Higgins wasn’t pleased with his own play and finished fifty-fourth, but managed to find optimism.
“I had a disappointing second round on Saturday,” he said. “I played a decent first round, shot 74, but I kind of started spraying the ball and missed the fairway in the second round. On the second day, I got off to a bad start but settled down and got some confidence heading into next week.”
The eight place finish didn’t quell any of the team’s concerns. To finish well at the Horizon League tournament, WSU knows where the most work is needed.
“Off the tee, we need to make sure we’re really accurate because there’s a lot of trouble off the fairways, and our iron game [needs work] because the greens are pretty slow,” said Higgins. “So we need to be in the rights spots on the green to put ourselves in positions to make birdies.”
When the Raiders step on the course in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida for the championships Friday, they’ll face a challenging course. Their plan is to attack it with preparation and belief.
“It’s pretty undulating,” said Higgins. “There are a lot of hills and water hazards, so that can lead to some high numbers if you’re not careful where you’re hitting your shots. We have some confidence because we’re one of the highest-ranked teams in the Horizon right now.”
With or without Nickson, the key for the Raiders is a strong mental game. Higgins noted earlier in the season that the team consulted with sports psychiatrists to improve their mindsets.
That work will be put to the test in the most demanding tournament of the season.
