The Jayhawks golf team is looking to begin their season under a new coach, Richard Swanson. As a new coach with little prep time, we asked how he has prepared for the season on such short notice. "Getting to connect with the team was the most important part," Swanson says, "The team has done a great job with prepping themselves. Not having a coach for the first couple of weeks must have been tough for them, but I think they handled it as well as they could." Weather has also been a big factor in getting them out on the courses, but Swanson is hopeful that with nicer weather coming, they will be able to soon get out on the course and get to work.
Being both a team and individual sport, Swanson says that to be successful this season, he hopes that they can find a balance between personal as well as team goals. "Personal goals for everyone on the team will be important. But we will also have to remember that we are playing just as much for each other as we are for ourselves. Even if our scores might not be where we want them, we still need a good mentality to put the bad holes behind us, and continue to grind out rounds for the team." Swanson also discussed that the team aspect of the sport is one of his favorite parts of college golf.
Swanson also has high hopes for his returning players, Cody Latimer is a returning All-American, and Alec Ambrose is also a returning player from last year's regional championship team. There is also a lot of new talent that he is looking forward to working with as well. One of the biggest challenges for the season though, is going to be getting the newcomers ready for tournament competition. His main focus is to get in as many reps as possible for all of the players before nationals in May.
As for goals for the season, the Men's team will be out to defend their regional championship, as well as improve from the fourth place finish that they took last year at Nationals. "That was a huge accomplishment for JCC Golf, and the team is eager to making an improvement on that." There is also a new addition from the past couple of years, a women's golfer, Marina Kessler, who Swanson also expects big things out of. "Our goal is to make it to Nationals."