The fall season for college golf usually consists of four to five tournaments and is meant for coaches and players to get back into the swing of competition. By late October, most competitive team tournaments conclude, kicking off the Longhorn’s off-season.
“We talk all the time about being ready when January comes along, so it’s not like they’re just sitting there doing nothing,” head golf coach John Fields said.
Unlike other sports, such as football or basketball, golf does not have plays or drills to work on in practice. For Fields, the coach is pretty hands-off with his players’ personal workouts and training.
“We treat our guys like professionals,” Fields said. “So every guy out here is going to have a different dimension with regards to what they want to work on.”
With a diverse cast of golfers on the team, each has their own instructor back home to help them work on multiple aspects of their game. Players prioritize their fitness or focus on more golf-related aspects, such as their short game on the putting green or tweaking their swing.
In the summer, players usually compete in individual tournaments, so a lighter tournament schedule in the fall allows them to catch up on classes and other academic endeavors.
“They’re playing tremendous schedules in the summer, so they need a little bit of time to get right, just physically and mentally, with the game,” Fields said. “We want them to be a little bit more weighted with regards to the classes they take in the fall versus the spring.”
Despite a thinner fall slate, the world-class players said they’ll venture to Texas to compete on the amateur or pro golf circuit during the fall. Junior Tommy Morrison will represent the United States in The Spirit International Amateur Golf Championship this November.
Junior Christiaan Maas and freshman Daniel Bennett, the South African duo, said they will represent their country in the Spirit Cup and in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa this December.
“That’s obviously exciting for them,” Fields said. “In the meantime, we’ve got to stay healthy, (and) work hard in the training room right now.”
On the homefront, there is not a day that goes by that Fields is not working on the program. Whether it’s recruiting the best talent for the next generation of Longhorn golfers or focusing on his passion project of hosting the NCAA Championship tournament for the second year in a row.
“It’s like a 24/7 job,” Fields said. “You’re responsible for kids, you’re responsible for raising money, you’re responsible for everything that encompasses our program, and then we’ve added the NCAA Tournament on top of that.”
The Longhorns are always in the upper echelon of the college golf world, and this year’s national title expectations are higher than they’ve ever been for the veteran coach. The Longhorns will have no shortage of rest and competitive spirit when they return for collegiate competition this January.
