The Rattlers had two top three finishes to begin the 2018 season, and since then haven’t placed higher than fourth until their win against Savanah State.
Photo credit: FAMU Athletics
This past weekend, Florida A&M’s golf team hosted Savannah State for the FAMU Springtime Invitational. The team won the weekend invitational and hopes to carry that momentum going into the MEAC Championships.
The invitational itself had many complications. Several teams backed out of the match last minute, and horrible weather threatened to keep any teams from playing at all. The Rattlers performed well in spite of these issues and came out on top.
Despite the match win, the season as a whole has been filled with inconsistency for the Rattlers.
“Our performance this season overall has had its ups and downs,” said Mahindra Lutchman, a sophomore on the team. “We have learned from each tournament we’ve played on what we need to work on and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing this season going into our MEAC championships. I have a great feeling we’ll do very well here on forward.”
The Rattlers had two top three finishes to begin the season, and since then haven’t placed higher than fourth until their win against Savannah State. Their good play most recently could be attributed to head coach Mike Rice who became head coach during the middle of the season.
“Coach Rice has a great coaching style,” said freshman player Mulbe Dillard. “He lets us work things out on our own and gives us the freedom to practice on our own at times. But when things get out of hand he makes sure to get them back on track. His coaching style has definitely improved our games a lot over this year.”
The area coach Rice will be having the team working on going into the MEAC Championships is their short game. The team they will be playing for the MEAC match runs faster than the Rattlers are used to, meaning that putting and short game need to be on point.
“To play good golf the short game has to be tight,” said Cameron Riley, a sophomore player. “So, for us to come out on top this past weekend shows that our short games were tight and in check. As always there is room for improvement so focusing on short game going into MEAC will give us more confidence and a better chance to bring the trophy home next weekend.”
Hopefully the Rattlers can finish strong at the championship matches which are being held from April 19-21 in Savannah, Georgia.