Turbulence Inconsistency was one of the weaknesses that plagued the six-player golf team during the 2019-2020 season. The spring season did not open with any guarantees. The team had suffered from two injuries and a transfer over the past two years. The group began to exit the shadow of a difficult fall season. The previously injured player, graduate student William Meyers, returned to finish the spring’s first game, tied for second shooting. However, due to all university athletics’ suspension because of the COVID-19 pandemic, dashed hopes. Jake Narro, head golf coach, summarized the turbulent year. “It was a roller coaster,” Narro shared. “We started as a team poorly. Before, in the fall, when things were still, obviously, completely normal, we were just upset with ourselves because we weren’t playing only golf well. And then, when the spring started, it got better, and we started playing a little bit better, and we were at the top of the roller coaster again. And then we hit rock bottom when we got the news that the season was over because we felt like we were trending in the right direction.” Meyers, returning after a year and a half respite, talked about how it felt to help spark the upward trend for the short-lived spring season, and then tying for second at the LaTour Intercollegiate. “I didn’t even play the practice round,” Meyers recalled. “I was hurting so bad. I think that’s why I played so well because
I was nervous—I thought I would be more nervous—but honestly, I was like, ‘I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to play’. So, I had zero expectations. I think sometimes people set the bar too high, so that kind of drags them down.” Two tournaments after LaTour, the coronavirus pandemic canceled the season. Despite the unexpected letdown, Narro was grateful that his players had more avenues than other student-athletes to continue practicing. “The strange thing about golf is this; there’s a lot of golf courses that are still open because it’s one of the sports that you can kind of social distance—it’s outside on over a hundred acres,” Narro shared. “So, it’s been okay as much as okay can be. I don’t wanna minimize anything when I say that, but it’s one area that has kind of been available.” While hopes of redeeming the weak fall season with a strong spring one were vanquished, Kristofer Kerr, a junior, who led the team with 60 birdies, recognized that there were still positives to the year as a whole. “This year, we had the same five go to every tournament, so we were very close and had some awesome memories,” Kerr said. “We’re such a tight group, and we have so much fun, and we want what’s best for each other, and it’s awesome. It’s a bond you can’t break.”
*The golf images on the preceding and following pages are from the 2018-2019 season and not the 2019-2020 season due to the abrupt end of play due to COVID-19.
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Job No.: 037459
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School Name: Southeastern Louisiana University
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