Where college students go for golf

The average college golf team only has about 10 players on the roster. This doesn't leave a lot of space for many players, and often forces some excellent and passionate golfers to step aside from the game they love. For these students, club golf is a great option to not only continue playing golf, but compete on a regional and national scale. 

The Sun Devils have been red hot this season, winning back-to-back regional tournaments and finishing the season as the top ranked club golf team in the country with a scoring average differential of 1.55 strokes per round. Standing out for ASU this season has been newcomer Ben Harden who led the Sun Devils with a combined score of -13 under par for the two regionals. I was able to catch up Ben and ASU club president Teig Hauer and who are both gearing up for the National Championship at the Paiute Golf Resort in Las Vegas.

“Life’s a journey, not a destination.” For Tyler Ware and the Texas State-San Marcos club golf team, this season has certainly been a journey, culminating in the program's first bid as a team to the NCCGA National Championship.

The journey for the University of Minneosta-Twin Cities club golf team has been one that President Matt Ostdiek has welcomed with open arms. From the cold winter and practicing indoors to the weekend of practicing before Nationals.

A bid to the NCCGA National Championship has been a long time coming for the Notre Dame Club Golf team. In a highly competitive region, and with a team in Indiana-Bloomington dominating the past few semesters, Notre Dame had their eye set on a Nationals bid but knew they would have to earn it.

The spring semester can be tough. Preparing for midterms, finals, the last few months of college and, for seniors, graduation, it can be a busy time for many in college. With the NCCGA spring season being so short, sometimes the fall season is the last thing on a Club President's mind.

From an early age, Sammy and Teddy Rettinger have been competing against each other on and off the golf course. The two played a lot of their home golf together and played together in high school at Hillcrest Christian under the same golf coach, better known as Mom.

For Tulsa, no dream is too small when it comes to playing golf. After the University of Tulsa decided to cut its long time men’s varsity team, some students who played golf were left with nowhere to play.

Luckily, sophomore Matt Wells stepped in this summer and founded the club golf team on campus.

Michigan club golf has already had a storybook season. Now they are just hoping for the Cinderella finish.

Playing varsity college golf can sometimes mean compromising on academics. After all, there's less time to dedicate to studying and lots of missed class time traveling to tournaments. As with many students that choose to play club golf over varsity, UCLA's Claire Malley chose academics but didn't want to give up on competitive golf.

Shooting two consecutive rounds under par, finishing at -5 in a tournament, is a pipe dream for most golfers. It's a weekend that most would dream about but never come true. But for Tyler Ware of Texas State-San Marcos, that type of weekend was a reailty this season, and it helped propel him to two medalist finishes in the Texas Region, the top-spot in the final NCCGA Player Rankings, and an individual bid to the National Championship. 

As a college student, the end of summer can be bitter-sweet. It means leaving your summer job and hometown friends for college dorms and 8 am classes. But for those playing NCCGA golf, the end of summer also means a chance to play club golf with friends and teammates that you haven’t seen all summer.