MAJOR SPORTS
Majors golf team notches back-to-back tournament wins.
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ust three seasons ago, the Millsaps Majors’ men’s golf team rated an unimpressive No. 230 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association golf rankings. And last year, there was just one female golfer at Millsaps. Millsaps Majors head golf coach Eddie Brescher knew he faced challenges when he took over two years ago, but he rallied around one goal. “I just want to make sure our players have a great college golf experience,” he said. Brescher has watched that happen. The men’s program has risen to No. 37 in the NCAA golf rankings and boasted two top-five golfers in the nation during the course of the 2012-2013 season. The Majors won their own tournament, the Millsaps Collegiate, for the second straight year, the first time since 1992-1993 the Majors have had back-to-back seasons with a win. The women now field a full team of golfers. Freshman Lauren Durbin recorded the College’s first win ever at the Hal Sutton Intercollegiate when she fired a 73 in the final round to force a play-off, which she won on the first hole. She recorded the school’s first hole-in-one at the Rhodes Collegiate. Lauren Barattini, the lone golfer last year, shot an 84 at the Southern Athletic Association Championships, her best round to date. Brescher had a simple philosophy to his approach: good facilities, good instruction, and good competition. He established a relationship with Deerfield Country Club in Madison County, where the Majors call home. Each golfer spends 10-15 hours a week practicing.
Next year, the men will field 12 golfers for six travel spots. Golf is such a fluid game that success one week doesn’t mean there will be success in the next. “I want to establish friendly competition between my players, to constantly push each other and get better as a result," Brescher said. The Majors host just one tournament out of 18 each year, so travel is a must. Brescher prepares his players week in and week out for tournament play by making no travel spot a guarantee. Brescher knows a thing or two about tournament play. He teed it up for Division I Southeast Louisana before turning pro. Brescher spent two seasons on the National Golf Association and Adams Golf tours. Unlike the PGA tour where the money comes mostly from sponsors, the NGA tour operates like a poker tournament, and golfers play to win back fees. If a golfer is in the top half of players at the end of the second round, he makes the cut and is “in the money.” Miss the cut, and the golfer will pay his entry fee. From that experience, Brescher knows how to instill a champion mentality in his players. “It comes back to the fluidity of golf,” Brescher said. “Success is not guaranteed shot to shot, let alone round to round. Our players understand that and my job is to get consistent success.” With men’s golf rising 200 spots in the polls in just two years and women’s golf winning tournaments, success for Millsaps golf is becoming the norm. BY DAN GRIFFIN
Millsaps Magazine | Summer 2013
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