The men’s golf team is preparing for their upcoming tournament at Auburn University Regionals in Alabama. The team will be the No. 12 seed going into this tournament after securing their seventh Patriot League Championship title since joining the conference last month.
At the Auburn Tigers’ home course, the Greyhounds will compete against top ranked teams including Texas A&M, Purdue, the University of California Los Angeles, and New Mexico State. There will be 13 teams competing including the Greyhounds. Head coach Chris Baloga is confident heading into the tournament, and trusts his guys to put up a strong performance against the other competitive programs.
“I want the guys to enjoy the experience, have fun, don’t get upset with bad shots, and make the most of it. It’s a long three days. I think we have the guys to give it a good run,” Baloga said.
While many teams in college golf tend to choose their rosters based on seniority, automatically sending all upperclassmen to tournaments, Baloga chooses to make his roster more balanced and give everyone a fair opportunity to compete.
“I like them to feel really empowered. We don’t really have team captains, I like all the guys to feel like an integral part of the team, and like they all have a say. They know they are all equally important to me,” Baloga said.
Baloga believes that a little friendly competition among the players is helpful for keeping them motivated, but he also tries to make the team atmosphere as fair and balanced as possible. They do not have team captains, and the limited roster spots for each tournament are not guaranteed to any player. Everyone has to compete anew each week to make the cut for the next tournament.
Baloga’s efforts to unite the team by promoting fairness and equity has a positive effect on the athletes. They have a strong bond as teammates and, as the coach reports, they do not harbor feelings of bitterness or hostility over one of their teammates making the tournament while they did not.
Graduate student Mike Crowley, who has played for the team for five years, has had a strong bond with Baloga, and gives the coach a lot of credit for the team’s success.
“I love Coach Baloga. He’s very knowledgeable as a golf coach, but he’s also been a really good friend and mentor to me and someone who I feel like I’m pretty close with now, and trust a lot…I think a lot of the guys on the team feel that way. I’m very lucky to have him and I’ve really enjoyed my five years playing for him at Loyola,” Crowley said.
Crowley mentioned Baloga’s recruiting strategy and scheduling choices as things that have been specifically beneficial to the program. Baloga aims to make a tough schedule during the regular season, having the team play top ranked teams all year in order to prepare his players for the stronger competition later in the season.
“I try and set our schedule up where we play with some of these teams we’re at the regional with this year. We see these teams throughout the season, so we’re not as starstruck anymore,” Baloga said.
The team travels to Auburn from May 12-14, hoping to come out among the top five teams in the tournament and to advance to the national finals. Keep up with the standings and live statistics as competition continues by visiting the NCAA website.
