May 4, 2005

I have officially procrastinated long enough. We got back from the UAA championships in beautiful Batavia, N.Y. and were confronted with the possibility of not going to nationals.

Lebow kept asking me "If the team doesn't make it do you think I still have a chance of going?" He was getting a little paranoid and a bit annoying. I am sure that the team itself was much more annoying to him over the season because we were all extraordinarily mediocre by our standards.

A second-place finish at UAAs should have knocked us out of the NCAAs, but we were able to sneak in. Hopefully Keith and I can make up for our non-potential reaching careers with a solid performance at nationals.

Keith was asked to rank every individual on the team for a project that Tristan was doing. He made two columns. One column was based on talent and the other was based on performance. We were both at the top for talent and down towards the bottom for performance. Sad, but true.

Our New York trip was wonderful. We got to see Niagara Falls in 30-degree weather. We woke up to play our first round with snow coming down hard and sideways due to the massive winds. What a glorious day to play golf. That is why I went to school in the South.

This is a plea to the people who run the UAA golf championships: please hold them someplace with a reasonable climate. Every year there is a 50/50 chance of horrendous weather. It's fun and all, but it's time for a change.

This is probably my last diary entry because my time at Emory is nearing an end. Every team that is going to nationals is practicing right now, but the good ole Emory team has finals all the up to the day before we leave. I am taking all of my finals before the exam periods even start (talk about fun).

It is all worth it though to get to go to nationals again. Nationals last year was one of the best experiences of my life and I couldn't imagine missing out on them my senior year. It is the best run tournament of the year and the most enjoyable. I have played in a lot of college golf tournaments, but nationals trumps them all.

I am going to end my last journal entry with a challenge to the Emory golf program. I challenge everyone to step it up, whether you are No. 1 or No. 10 on the team. Everyone needs to work harder and expect more from themselves.

It starts with with hard work and hopefully ends with solid performances. I wish that I was pushed a little bit more by my teammates and I wish that I pushed myself a little bit more.

The one thing that I will look back on in my four years on the team is the experience of the team doing well at nationals last year. There is no more satisfying feeling than seeing yourself and your team competing to win a national championship. Hard work paid off last year and hopefully it will in the future for this program.

I will miss playing and competing with everyone on this team especially Brohan, Mr. Harker. I expect a lot from you in the future. You have all the game to be the best ever at Emory and nothing would make me happier than to see you break all the records. I want to see your name on the GolfStat Cup.

I hope that this program can improve from a national top-10 program to a national championship contender.

Timothy Hamm is a senior from Niskayuna, N.Y.

March 26, 2005

Our team spent the latter half of spring break competing in the Jekyll Island Invitational in southern Georgia. Although the stories and events from the first half of spring break may be more entertaining, my better judgment tells me to summarize (and censor) the week's occurrences. Let's be honest... my mom reads these diary entries.

To begin spring break, five of us took advantage of our free week by packing up a couple cars and traveling down to Florida. Minus the necessary spring break detours to Orlando, Cocoa Beach and South Beach, we spent most of our time playing golf at an alumnus' course in Port St. Lucie.

A former member of the golf team who graduated a couple years ago was gracious enough to let us crash at his place for a couple nights and provided us with full access to a great Jack Nicklaus signature course. The highlight of the week came on a 220-yard, par-three hole where I smoothed a three-iron right into the cup for my first hole-in-one. After a whole lot of screaming and a lap around the tee box, I then dove into the pond next to the tee in celebration.

After an incredible couple of days in Florida, we got back to business when we arrived at the Oleander Course on Jekyll Island Thursday morning for our practice round. Although we all had our ups and downs during the week, it proved to be a very successful tournament for us.

Freshman Drew Harker stepped up big for us in the final round with an even-par 72 to contribute to a team score of 297 and a very respectable fourth-place finish against some of the top competition in Division III. Tristan Sanders also had a breakthrough tournament, firing our low round of the week, 70, in the second round and finishing 16th overall.

Unfortunately, Keith and I both proved that miniature golf courses are not the only places where 12-inch putts aren't "gimmes." My conclusion is that our seniors are just saving up their good rounds to put a little pressure on the rest of us. But don't worry, they'll be back with a vengeance next week at Camp Lejeune.

As for now, it's back to reality and catching up on schoolwork. We have the weekend and early next week to get some good practice in before leaving for Camp Lejeune on Wednesday.

This week will also provide us with the opportunity to watch our second team compete in a dual match against Brandeis, who is traveling down from Massachusetts for the weekend. We are all looking forward to the upcoming competitions and just waiting for everything to come together... cause when it does, WATCH OUT DIII!

Mike Lebow is a junior from Royersford, Pa.

October 16, 2004

Last week we went to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to play in one of the best college tournaments in the country, the Gordin Collegiate Classic.

A few minutes after we arrived we learned that the long-drive contest was being held and we needed to send one person within the next few minutes to compete. We selected our freshman Drew Harker from Barrington, Rhode Island, who is proud of his relationship with the VP of Titleist, and how he lives oh so close to Brad Faxon. His relationship with Brad Faxon is very questionable due to Drew's cut-putting stroke, but nonetheless he started warming up on the driving range by only hitting drivers, a highly unusual warm-up.

Drew took about five swings then went over to the contest. After his first swing he threw down his club and said "Oh my god, look how far that is!" The result was a 303-yard drive. He had two similarly arrogant reactions after his next two drives. Two of his three drives were straight enough to count and the one that didn't, went 313 yards and was out of bounds by two feet. He won the contest with a long drive of 309 yards.

Our goal was to sweep the tournament competitions by winning the real tournament as well. We got off to a great start with the help of Mike Lebow, who is our horse this year. He fired a 69. The help of Drew with a 72 followed by Keith Rourke's 75 set us up in very good position. My continuing mediocre play out of the No. 1 spot brought us down a little bit with my 76, but still put us in second place, only one shot out of first.

After the round we all decided to grill out behind our room which is right next to the Welshley Arms Hottub. The last part is a reference from a Will Ferrell skit on "Saturday Night Live." Burgers and brats filled us up and gave us the energy we needed to make a strong showing the next morning.

Everything was looking good after the first nine holes. The four scorers that would end up counting were a combined one over par. But, on the back nine, the team shot a whopping 16 or so over par. Some may call this a collapse and I guess it was, but we still ended up finishing in fifth place ahead of two district rivals.

Although the tournament was filled with highs and lows, the end result was acceptable. The result also helped us come closer to gaining entry into the NCAA national championship. All in all, this was a very successful trip because the team chemistry went up tenfold. We are all a much tighter knit group then we were before and we should be all the better for it. Nationals, here we come!

Timothy Hamm is a senior from Niskayuna, N.Y

October 8, 2004

And... there is hope!

After a rainy week in Scotland and two hurricane-shortened tournaments, it was a pleasant change to play golf without rain gloves, jacket, or an umbrella. The first couple weeks of the season were a struggle not only with the weather, but with our games. Fortunately, with the sun came better play.

Last week we proved that Emory golf is back for another competitive season. After a slow start on Monday we came back with a strong one-under-par score of 287 in Tuesday's tough conditions. With gusty winds and tucked pins we carded scores of 71, 71, 72, and 73; throwing out a 75, the lowest dropped score of the entire tournament. We also had an impressive showing from our individual entry, Chris Clarke, who shot 71 as well.

Our two-day total of 585 was good enough for fourth place out of 15 teams. Tuesday's comeback helped us finish ahead of a few district rivals, but we couldn't make up enough ground to beat three of the teams at the top of our district standings. Although this tournament improved our position for bid to nationals, it more importantly gave us some momentum going into the two biggest tournaments of the fall. We leave for the Wilson-Gordon Collegiate Classic this weekend and then travel to Orlando on October 20th to compete in the NCAA Division III Preview tournament.

In addition to the improved golf, there were many other pluses to this trip. For starters, we had zero near-death experiences in the van! Yes, that's a rare plus. We also got to know one of our fellow freshmen a little better, and although I didn't think it was possible, the maturity level of our team has plummeted. I hate to admit it, but Drew actually makes Keith and Tim look like seniors from time to time. We also discovered that although none of us seem to be able to study on these trips, with a little mental math we can get into some serious poker tournaments during a six-hour van ride.

This weekend we plan to pick up where we left off and hopefully knock off a couple top district teams as well as some tough out-of-district opponents... and then it's back to school work and reality next week.

P.S. I love my mom.

Mike Lebow is a junior from Royersford, Pa.

October 1, 2004

We left for Greensboro in hopes of better weather. Our hopes were dashed when we hit our second hurricane of the season.

Our first tournament was shortened to one round after Hurricane Ivan hit us in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Our second tournament also was shortened due to the effects of Hurricane Jeanne.

Our two hurricane-shortened events of the season have hurt our hopes for making a strong push for nationals, but at the same time made us realize that we couldn't just show up and make nationals.

Everyone on the team has a newfound resolve for making nationals. Last season's results showed us the hard work and dedication it takes to excel, but our results from this season have shown that we can't take it for granted.

Several conversational team discussions have brought the team together. We have all agreed that our main goal is making sure that we get back to nationals. Winning nationals has been put on the back burner until we can prove to ourselves that we are capable of performing at a higher level.

The results of the first two tournaments have put a premium on our performance for the rest of the season. Although the pressure to succeed is at an all-time high, we have been able to come together as a team better than I have ever seen it.

One freshman, Drew Harker, has been able to break onto the travel team. His emergence could be a key ingredient to help the team jumpstart its season. Our difficult first two tournaments will provide the team's motivation to succeed at the national level.

Timothy Hamm is a senior from Niskayuna, N.Y.