Brandon Matthews said he expects better than his team’s 10th-place tie at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate Tuesday.
Matthews, who now has three straight Top 7 finishes to start the year, shot a 2-over-par 73 Tuesday, after shooting a 3-under during the tournament’s first day on Monday. He finished the tournament at a 1-under 212.
“As a team, we are struggling,” Matthews said. “We expected a lot and we haven’t lived up to our expectations.”
As a team, Temple finished 43 shots behind the tournament’s champion, North Carolina State. The Owls’ two other players to finish inside the top 60 were senior Matt Teesdale, who finished 46th and senior Pat Ross, who finished 54th.
In order to start finishing toward the top, Matthews believes that Temple needs to correct its small mistakes.
“It was a few misses here and there that need to be fixed,” Matthews said.
Despite the high expectations the team had coming into this year, Matthews said pressure is not the issue. It all comes down to playing better and shooting lower scores.
“No, it’s not pressure,” Matthews said. “We have to play well. Golf is different and you don’t have it every day. You have to fight.”
Coach Brian Quinn agrees.
“Golf is different, “Quinn said. “There is truly only one winner. We were playing a strong field. I was disappointed but we are closer than you might think.”
The team, who hasn’t won an event since April 2013, is going through a process. Quinn believes once his team gets going, the results will show.
“It’s a game of patience,” Quinn said. “Once we turn the corner, we will spike pretty good … it takes everyone a little while to get going.”
Quinn also is preparing his team for spring play. He says he is working on getting his team ready for conference play, in which the importance of tournaments increases significantly.
“Everything is about conference,” Quinn said. “We are preparing for Conference Championships so we can get into [the NCAA men’s golf regional].”
The significance of reaching the regional tournament is always on the mind of Quinn. But for now, he is focused on getting the team to mesh.
“Just get comfortable … we are trying to develop these kids,” Quinn said.
Michael Guise can be reached at michaelguise@temple.edu or on Twitter @Michael_Guise.
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