Coming off their winter offseason, Union’s men’s and women’s golf teams have been hard at work preparing for their spring season and are eager to play in their first tournaments of the year in the upcoming week.
Both teams have been committed to practicing for the approaching season since the first week of the semester back in January.
Kallie Robertson, a senior marketing major and member of the women’s team, shared what that looks like for the teams.
“It’s really just a lot of encouragement for each other,” Robertson said. “It’s always just striving to get better each day, whether that’s on the golf course, off the golf course, or in the weight room.”
This season, Ryan Chandler, the coach for both teams, will be without an assistant coach. However, that hasn’t stopped the teams from training their hardest.
“He’s always there for us, he invests in us, not just in golf but in other areas of life too,” Robertson said. “That helps a lot, he pushes us and sees the best of us and always wants us to reach our potential.”
The teams will play some of the same courses this season that they played last spring.
Key players to watch this season include senior Kallie Robertson, freshman Brooklyn Verdugo, sophomore JJ Zimmer and graduate student Trey Tidwell.
Both teams are working hard toward excelling in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) Championships in April.
Tidwell, a graduate engineering student, is in his fifth and final year of playing golf for Union.
“I am most looking forward to seeing how the work we put in over the summer and offseason pays off this spring,” Tidwell said. “I am also looking forward to see how we play after winning our last tournament of the fall and seeing if we can build off that win and make a run for a bid to the regional golf tournament.”
The two teams will start off the season by hosting the Tunica Cup on Monday, Feb. 20 through Tuesday, Feb. 21 in Robinsonville, Mississippi.
Photo courtesy of UU Athletics