As Marshall’s men’s golf team prepares to hit the links at the Irish Creek Intercollegiate, head coach Matt Grobe said there’s a lot for his team to work on.

 “All of us have parts of our swing that we have to pay attention too,” Grobe said. “Parts of our short game that need attention too. We got some (players) that needs some work around the green. We got some that need a little help on their ball striking. Then we have some that need to get a little mental work in.” 

Grobe said his hardest job is trying to find the right five players to choose each tournament with a team consisting of eight solid players.

The Herd is coming off the three-day Furman Intercollegiate when it placed 14th out of the 21 teams present and Grobe said that the atmosphere around the team is positive.

“I feel really good about where we are at right now,” Grobe said. “I feel like (the team) is really starting to have a little bit of confidence. We have gotten off to some bad starts in the fall, and we have continued to just get better and better.”

 Grobe said he hopes he sees the fight his team showed at the Furman in the upcoming matchup and that there is always room for improvement.

“I felt like the team fought really hard,” Grobe said. “The one thing that is still a little bit frustrating as a coach, and it’s one of those things that I think you worry sometimes as a coach, is that you have gotten too close to your guys because you care so much for them.”

Grobe said despite the lack of results on the scoreboard, the team is playing better as a whole.

“I think we are a better team than we are scoring. So, I would like to see us score a little bit better,” Grobe said. “I think ball striking wise and short game wise, I have watched us with some of the best teams in the country this fall and the spring and we are just as good as those guys. We just are not scoring as well right now. For me, I would just like to see the scores get lower and lower.”

 Freshman Kyle Mitchell, who tied for 30th out of the 120 players present in the Furman Intercollegiate, said that he is confident going into the Irish Creek Intercollegiate.

“I feel really good about my game,” Mitchell said. “I feel really confident in my ability and I know that I can play very well.”

Mitchell said that he hopes to keep up the performance he showed at the Furman in the upcoming event.

“It was a big turning point for me with my ball striking and my swing,” Mitchell said. “I feel like if I can keep that up then I will have no problem scoring at Irish Creek.”

Despite this, Mitchell said he recognizes there is still  room for improvement.

“Mainly (I have been) just (working on) my striking and short game,” Mitchell said. “(I) just need to continue to do what I have been doing. I really struggled at the beginning of the season so just making progress with my game, just keeping it steady and keeping up with my routine.”

The Herd will travel to Kannapolis, North Carolina to participate in the two-day Irish Creek Intercollegiate event. The first day of play is scheduled for Saturday with the event ending on Sunday.

Millard Stickler can be contacted at [email protected].