Following a Sunday performance riddled with windy conditions and lackluster play, junior Jay Vandeventer birdied his first four holes at the General Hackler Championship in South Carolina Monday to finish the day with a 2-under-par 70.
Vandeventer’s efforts proved to be the lone bright spot for a Tennessee men’s golf team that finished 12th.
“From the first round, which wasn’t really good at all, I kind of just regrouped and went back to the positives things I’ve been doing from previous tournaments,” Vandeventer said. “I went into it knowing I wasn’t going to win the tournament, but I told myself, what happens happens. No matter what the score was, I was going to stay positive and end on a good note.”
Vandeventer regrouped from an 86 on Sunday afternoon — the second worst round by a Tennessee player in the tournament — by challenging himself mentally.
“With me it’s more mental,” Vandeventer said. “I don’t really try to tinker with my mechanics while I’m on the golf course. It’s mainly trying to keep my emotions down and having a positive attitude. Just really try to focus on the next shot and next hole.”
Sunday’s sub-par performance may have been mechanically or mentally problematic, but for Vandeventer, as well as many other golfers, the weather played a major role in disrupting solid play.
“We were expecting about 10 mph winds, and then it kicked up a lot more,” he said. “The wind definitely did play a factor in the first round and it was a little bit trickier than most weather we’ve been playing in. Off the tee and approach shots to the green, it kind of turned the ball left and right.”
During that first round, Vandeventer wasn’t the only UT player to struggle. Junior Rick Lamb finished with an 85 and sophomore Danny Keddie turned in an 82.
For the Vols as a whole, finishing 12th out of 15 teams isn’t exactly an accomplishment. But like Vandeventer, Tennessee will need to work hard, keep its emotions in check and ride the momentum into this weekend’s 2012 Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship in Bradenton, Fla.
“You can’t over-think things,” Vandeventer said. “My first couple of years here I put a lot pressure on myself, high expectations and just kind of over-thought everything. You just really have to focus on emotions and let it be whatever it’s going to be.”
