Men's golf team hits road for District 4 Championship

The Eastern Florida State College men's golf team heads into the postseason as one of the top teams in the nation.

The Titans, who are No. 3 in the latest Bushnell Golfweek NJCAA Division I Coaches poll, hit the road for Marion, Illinois for the District 4 Championship which begins Monday at The Links at Kokopelli Golf Club. 

"I am curious because we are not playing all that well. We played ok in Miami, it was a good field, but we didn't play well. Florida Tech's event we made some headway but gave it back up in the end. Kind of like the weather, we are kind of warming up but curious to see how it plays out," Eastern Florida State College men's golf coach Jamie Howell said. "I am fine with the team, we just have to perform better."

Sophomore Beck Fox has been the leader of the group, finishing in the top 10 in his last five tournaments. 

"I feel good, my putting is probably the strongest thing in my game right now which I don't think I have ever been able to say, I definitely have been putting amazing. I practice so much on putting but I feel like if I can put it all together I will be fine," Fox said before practice last week. "The team is good, we are just really finding out who that fifth guy is. We have four really strong players who we know will show up every single time and it is just finding the right guy because they are all so good and close."

Thomas Matthews, Ben Ramos and Josh Stern join Fox for a formidable top four as they attempt to bring home a District 4 Championship. Last season the Titans finished second and overall Eastern Florida State College has placed in the top three of the tournament eight straight seasons.

Central Alabama comes into the tournament No. 6 in the latest poll and Calhoun is getting votes.

"Central Alabama has been playing well and is right behind us in the polls, Calhoun is much better than anyone knows and we are playing at John A. Logan's home course. Wallace State always shows up and plays well. We are going to play as hard as we can, but it will be a tough tournament," Howell said. "We need to have consistency, that first score needs to be a score we don't throw away. We need a little more consistency from the bottom."

The team played the course in the NJCAA District Preview in the Fall and won the event despite rain washing out the final round.

"Last time we were there it was long and wet, so it played difficult. Not many teams go out and shoot low scores. It will be key getting acclimated to the different grass and greens. In the fall, I was surprised when I heard someone shot par. Par is good there, it is a good course and it will bite you if you hit the wrong shot."

The tournament runs Monday and Tuesday with the top teams advancing to the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament which will be at Duran Golf Club in Viera on May 14-17.