Crunch Time for Eastern Florida’s Men’s Golf Team

For the 15^th straight time the Eastern Florida men's golf team plays for an opportunity to compete in the NJCAA National Championship Tournament.

And given that the Titans have been successful in their 14 previous attempts under head coach Jamie Howell expectations are high once again.

Eastern Florida will join 11 other teams for 72 holes of District 4 competition Monday and Tuesday at Brewton Country Club in Brewton, Alabama. It's the home course of Coastal Alabama Community College, formerly known as Faulkner State Community College.

The top six finishing teams advance to the Buffalo Dunes in Garden City, Kansas for the May 16-19 national tournament.

The Titans have won five district championships under Howell. They also won seven national championships under head coach Floyd Horgen, the most recent in 1991.

The Titans also have produced seven individual national champions, the most recent being Kerry Sweeney who won it last May at Duran Golf Club in Viera. Sweeney joined Jacob Davis, 2004, and Billy Anderson, 2011, as Howell-coached individual national champions. Howell also has coached 22 All-Americans.

The Titans best national team finish under Howell was second in 2015.

So it's only natural to ask given those kind of results how does Howell keep the players focused on district tournament?

"In the words of former NFL player and coach Herman Edwards: 'You play the game to win,' " Howell said.

"It is not lost on this or any team I have had the privilege of coaching that our program is about winning, tradition, honor and character. In golf, you will get beat many more times than coming out on top with a win. You work for the opportunity to compete for titles, tournament wins, All-America status. In so many words, we're working to achieve and continue the tradition of excellence this program is known for in the world of collegiate golf.

"Each one of the team members understands what is expected of them and what our goals are each year."

And winning the district championship is among them.

"The District championship is the biggest tournament we compete in next to our national championship," Howell said. "Everyone likes to be identified as a district champion since it is a culmination of your regular-season schedule. The goal is the same for every event on our NJCAA schedule: Arrive and depart with a first-place trophy. If that does not happen we return home and work on what needs to improve for our next event. One of the hallmarks of the program through the years is we travel better than most programs when competing on the road."

Representing the Titans at district will be Brad Bawden, Mathieu Echelard, Fraser Davren, Tyler Bennett and either Ryan Rozic, Kyle Decenzo or Michael Stewart.

Bawden and Davren are well aware of what is expected and they certainly are prepared.

"We embrace the challenge and believe that we have put in the work to produce the results that we are capable of achieving at districts and nationals," said Bawden, a sophomore from Hockley, England.

"We all play to win in this game, as do I. But for me, I am trying to just focus on my golf and the process I have laid out and not get hung up with standards or targets. I know that if I stick to this I can produce the results that we all hope for."

Bawden, a member of last year's team, which won the district title and finished fourth at nationals, had advice for the freshmen.

"The best advice the sophomores have given to us is to treat districts as any other tournament we have played and focus on one shot at a time," said Davren, a freshman from Glasgow, Scotland.

"Personally, I am confident that I can play well and I am also confident that the guys can push for a team win as Coach Howell has us fully prepared every time we get to a tournament.

"I can assure you that this freshman class does not want to break our excellent streak of competing in the national tournament. We have worked very hard this year and we are confident we will deliver a good performance."

But golf is golf and challenges and adversity await.

"In regard to obstacles, we have been preparing all year for whatever is thrown our way," Howell said. "We have played in good weather, poor weather, windy conditions, dry courses, wet courses.

"The bulk of our qualifiers to go to events are 72 holes. We have played early in the day, at midday, late in the day. We have played healthy and ill, etc.

"It is my goal each year to run the gamut of possibilities before we reach the District tournament and national championship and be able to reflect back on any situation we have already encountered and use that as a reference for current conditions."

The Titans have enjoyed strong fall and spring seasons, boosting the confidence level heading into the district tournament.

"I give us a B+," Howell said. "We have won two events, finished second twice and were competitive in three high-caliber NCAA Division II events, Rollins where we finished seventh, Florida Tech here we were fifth and Barry where we were fourth."

"We have had three individual tournament winners, Bawden twice and Echelard once. We have progressively improved since the fall season and the addition of Mathieu Echelard only made us that much more competitive at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions."

All that is fine and well but golf is golf and myriad challenges await.

"The biggest obstacle is to keep the guys in the moment and not over emphasize the result," Howell said. "Easier said than done, but the most difficult part should be in their review mirror and now is the time to just play golf.

"The team is very good from top to bottom. They can all play the game very well. The biggest area for us to contend with is not making unforced errors or making unwise choices. I tell the team I can handle bad shots, but not stupid choices. Good teams maximize their strengths and keep the unforced errors to a minimum."