Marshall men’s golf head coach Matt Grobe said in an interview on Wednesday that the team is a little bit disappointed following the Georgia Southern Individual Collegiate.

“I think you have to understand that we are coming out of the winter and we are going down and trying to play in an event down south,” Grobe said. “So, you have to, as a coach, understand that our guys are not in a competitive mode. We haven’t played competitive golf since the middle of October, so it is kind of a learning experience for those guys. As a coach, the good news is that we have a lot of things we can improve on.”

The Herd sent nine players down to the event in, among them sophomore Cameron Root who tied for 17th overall with a total score of 219.

Root said that he was satisfied with his performance in the tournament.

“I think I played pretty well considering the circumstances with the weather,” Root said. “We practice in doors a lot, so it is hard to know where your game is at going in. I was fortunate enough to go to Florida over the break, so I got to play there a little bit to see where my game was at. But this is the first time I have got to see where I am at and I was pretty pleased with how I played.”

The Herd’s next tournament will be the Pinehurst Intercollegiate and Grobe said that what the Herd has to improve on before their next tournament is unusual because, unfortunately, the Herd has nine different guys with nine different things they need to work on.

“Some guys need to get a little bit better off the tee. Some guys need to get a little bit closer to the hole. Some guys need to do a little bit better job at putting,” Grobe said. “For us, what we do is that we try and get back and try to let each (player) figure out what they need to improve on before we go on to the next tournament.”

Root said that he hopes to emulate his performance in the Southern Georgia Individual Collegiate.

“I hit the driver really well, so I am not really worried about how I am hitting my driver,” he said. “I hit a lot of greens, so my irons are good.”

Root said that he needs to improve on his putting and that his major focus going into the Pinehurst Intercollegiate is to make more birdies.

“I am good at making pars, but the guys we are playing against, they are making birdies,” Root said. “So, I just got to hit the ball a little closer and focus on making birdies,” he said.

The Pinehurst Intercollegiate will take place in Pinehurst, North Carolina on Mar. 8 and end on Mar. 9.

Millard Stickler can be contacted by email at: [email protected]