Taylor men’s golf has already shown it can compete near the top of the leaderboard.
Through the first four tournaments of the season, Coach Toon said, “We have consistently put ourselves in position to win.” At the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcat Invitational on September 7th, Taylor entered the final round in first place before finishing second. The Trojans followed a similar path at the Pikeville Collegiate on September 15th, leading after the first two rounds before finishing second.
Head coach Toon said those results show that his young team is close to breaking through.
“I think we’re knocking on the door,” Toon said. “We should have won both of our tournaments.”
The Trojans’ youth and the early-season results gives the team reason for early optimism. A freshman has broken into the team’s top five, while two sophomores have also played in the top five.
Sophomore Aaron Fulda has posted both the single best and third best performances with scores of 68 and 70 at the Pikeville Collegiate. Freshman Hayden Fox slots in between Fulda’s scores with the second best individual performance on the team this season with a score of 69 at the IWU Fall Invite. Junior Porter Dick and sophomore Davis Formsma also tied Fulda for the third best on the team with 70.“I think we’re just scratching the surface,” Toon said.
One of the biggest positives Toon has seen is the team’s chemistry. He said several upperclassmen have told him this is the most cohesive group they have been a part of.
The players still hope to work their way into the top five of the lineup, but Toon said their individual goals have not come at the team’s expense.
“You want to make the top five and play tournaments because you shot really low, not because they didn’t play well,” Toon said.
The biggest area for improvement, however, is finishing. Toon said.
Multiple times, Taylor has held leads during its tournaments but has been unable to close out with a championship win. Toon said the team has concentrated on maintaining its focus and finishing strong.
Rather than looking at the scoreboard, he wants his players to focus on the process and the individual hole in front of them.
The positive atmosphere has also been notable for Toon as he takes over for the first time following the program’s previous coach. He said finding the right balance as a new coach was important, but this season has been particularly positive from his perspective.
Now, the Trojans have two major goals for the remainder of the season: winning the conference and reaching Nationals.
“We have the talent to win every tournament that you (we) play in,” Toon said.
Golf, Toon said, is not a game in which every shot will be perfect. Players will face bad shots and difficult stretches, and their ability to recover will determine how they handle those moments.
Taylor’s next opportunity comes Oct. 5 at the Taylor Trojan Invitational. On October 12th, the Trojans will compete in the Crossroads League Preview in Columbus, Indiana, an event Toon described as a preview of the conference competition.
The players are also looking forward to returning to Whistling Straits on October 19th, located in Columbus, Indiana, where Taylor won a tournament last year.
“They want to regain their trophy,” Toon said.
With four tournaments behind them and three tournaments ahead in the fall season, the Trojans’ next challenge is turning strong starts into finishes.
