‘Team is everything’: Men’s golf prepares for new season

After finishing the fall season on a good note, the new and young UTRGV Men’s Golf Team is ready to swing into the spring season and prove itself.

Fifth-year head coach Philip Tate told The Rider he is excited for the spring season with a core of new players who will get first-time experience competing at the collegiate level and, hopefully, grow. 

With the spring season starting March 7 at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational in Spring, Texas, the head coach said the team is excited and cannot pack their bags fast enough.

“Let’s go tee it up,” Tate said. “See what we’re made of.”

Only three of eight players on the roster had previous tournament experience before the fall season.

The head coach described the fall season as “sporadic,” with the team finishing last at the Lone Star and Trinity Forest Invitationals, 11th at the Bentwater Intercollegiate and third at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate.

“I think it was a little inconsistent,” he said. “But, I think we finished strong, which proved what we have in the tank. So, I think we’ll be able to replicate that more in the spring than we did in the fall.”

Tate said the two main things he wants his players to focus on this year are being as strong as possible by hitting the gym and mentally growing as a team.

“This is the first chance for some of these guys to get out here and really play and be a part of the team,” he said.

With seven of eight players being underclassmen, The Rider asked Tate what he thinks of having a predominantly young team.

The coach replied, “It could go either way. I think that the fall proved that, you know, we were capable of some really good moments, but we were capable of some inconsistent moments. So, we really need to focus on being consistent and playing the way that we should play every single day.”

Sophomore Leonardo Novella told The Rider he feels great starting his second season with the Vaqueros and is excited to prove himself this spring.

Novella led the team with a 74.75 stroke average this fall, tying for ninth place at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate with a three-round score of 216.

“I feel like we have a lot to prove,” the  native of Italy said. “And I have a lot to prove to my teammates. I didn’t play as I wanted to and I really believe we can reach a good point going into the [Western Athletic Conference] finals and take the trophy.”

Novella said it was hard to replace last year’s seniors.

“Right now, I feel like me and [sophomore Sebastian Lundberg] and some of the guys have taken the lead and [are] feeling more a part of the team and more important,” he said. “I would say this will allow us to [get a] good mentality going into tournaments and be more together and knowing that everybody can be a leader.”

Sophomore Rhaasrikanesh Kanavathi, who finished one shot behind Novella at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate for 11th place, told The Rider that as much as golf is an individual sport, the team aspect is important as well.

“Team is everything,” Kanavathi said. “So, for instance, when one of us finishes off earlier or something, the [teammate] comes and supports us along the way. So, that support is very important. And in the weight room, we all work together and we are trying to get better physically …  and in general practice, too. We are actually practicing together and everything. So, everything is done, preparationwise, as a team. And then on the golf course you do feel a bit individualistic.”

 Kanavathi said the fall season was disappointing, but the strong finish and time off between seasons helped the team.

“We’ve all had, like, a long break basically since the fall and we’ve all had time to work on our game and everything for at least about two months now since our last event,” he said.

During the break, Kanavathi said he worked on technical difficulties he had in his game.

“I was all over the place in my last semester,” he said. “I was all over the place in my game and I think it was very obvious in how I played last semester. So, I had to do the work.”

Novella said he is also working on technical aspects of the game.

“Some little things in order to be more solid around the greens, especially with my putter,” he said.  “I’ve been changing putters. And as well I would say overall tempo. Tempo for three days in a row or four days in a row, or whatever. Just give it the same tempo every single time.”

The Vaqueros will play five tournaments before the WAC Championship April 29 in Las Vegas, where they finished in fourth place last year.

“We’re not the basketball team or we’re not the baseball team, but we can bring something special every single tournament,” Novella said. “Following us can be something really fun. … A team tournament can be won, like, even on the last day and in the last second.”