Guest Blogger: Troy Spencer Reflects on Spring Break
3/18/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
(Welcome to SHUPirates.com Coach's Corner Blog with head men's golf coach Clay White. Coach White will provide Seton Hall fans with an inside look of the Pirates men's golf program.)
Troy Spencer, a junior on the men's golf team, contributed the following guest blog entry.
Spring break with the Seton Hall Men's golf team is certainly worth the price of admission. Each and every day in a house with nine guys brings both comic relief as well as potential civil war. Of course, we get along about 85% of the time, but it's that remaining 15% that coach constantly fears! So far there haven't been any major issues among us. Unless of course you want to count Borja getting so mad at me during the middle of the night for snoring that he actually took his mattress off of his bed and dragged it out into the hall to sleep! Colin Van Es who is sleeping in his own private room across the hall from us was not amused when he woke up to brush his teeth and found a hairy Spaniard sleeping on a mattress a foot in front of his door. Sorry for the snores Borjie!
The majority of the battles actually take place in the kitchen, believe it or not. Some of my teammates....BRANDON....are clearly not ready to move off campus yet, not unless Kim and Ginger start adding grocery stipends to the golf scholarships! Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it never fails; Coach White walks through the kitchen yelling, "Who left the milk on the counter with the top off?" Brandon! "Who used the cheese dip and put it in the pantry instead of the fridge?" Brandon! "Is anyone going to seal this bread up before it goes stale?" Brandon! God bless him. The kid can do some unbelievable things with a golf club in his hands, but put him in your kitchen for a week and he will cost your school a lot of money on groceries! We are gonna start serving you your meals for the rest of the week BP!
Often times the most fun we have together stems from the simple fact that we come from totally different walks of life. Seriously! Our team is represented by Ireland, Spain, England, Canada, Indiana, Florida, and North Carolina. When we get together and start doing something there's really no way of knowing how far we will actually go until someone does something stupid, or Coach threatens to kill us! Tuesday night was a prime example. You see, our team has a tradition that has been carried down since the Rich Brazeau playing days. Each year on the spring break trip all the Freshman/newcomers have to shave their heads! Now, Kim before you jump out of your seat yelling "HAZING!," be advised that this haircut is not mandatory nor is it enforced by Coach White. But seriously they have to do it or we hold them down! Kidding. As honorary haircutter, I started administering a voluntary cut on Colin when he and Jamie both decided they each wanted Mohawks. Fine. Next, Gary sat down for his freshman trimming. I gave him a clean buzz cut and he was out of the chair and on his way. Now as mentioned before, this is where we get a little carried away and our ideas begin to border on ridiculous. John busted out the beard trimmer and gave Gary two skin bald "speed-lines" on the side of his head, oddly enough at his own request! If you're wondering where Clay wanting to kill us comes in to play just imagine opening your screen door to the patio only to find three full heads worth of hair scattered on the floor by the pool. Yea, we cleaned it up pretty quickly so our roster is still at seven players! And the best part of it all is Gary can now run the mile even faster than before with his new aerodynamic haircut. Atta boy Gar!
We had a great time on our spring break trip. It is becoming more and more apparent that our hard work and dedication to our workouts and our golf room practice is beginning to pay off. In years past, it would take several days to shake of the winter's rust, but this year there seems to be stronger commitment and a faster improvement in our games. As I watch my teammates warming up before their rounds, and grinding hard on their short games long after sunset, I feel more and more confident that we are going to have a successful spring season. Coach White and Coach Brazeau have pointed us in the right direction throughout our long off season and now it is up to us to produce results.
WE MADE IT THROUGH DAY FIVE
March 10, 2011
Tuesday, March 8 was another morning practice, played the Nicklaus course which I think is the toughest course. Artie DaSilva joined us. For those who don't know Artie, he worked at Seton Hall a couple of years ago. Kathy introduced me to him so every time I come down to Orlando; I try to catch up with him. I also ran into Matt Regan, who was down for business. I hope to invite him out to play with the team sometime when he has a little more time. After the round, a few guys wanted to chip and putt. It always makes me happy to hear them wanting to work on their short game. Nothing can save you a few strokes every round then a tight short game. A few guys opted to swim first, then head to the practice tee. I think both groups ended up in front of a TV to watch the Pirates. The group I was with went crazy when Hazell made the three at the buzzer. It got a few people wandering over to see why we were so excited. I really thought the Pirates were going to pull it off in overtime after that shot. I was proud of the fact the guys chose to watch the game and not the Paula Creamer photo shoot going on a good lob wedge away.
After we got back Coach Braz got the grill going and we had brats and chill dogs for dinner. We had tacos the night before so I made some bean dip with the leftovers. Wasn't sure if the guys were going to like it, but it went pretty fast. If you ask Kelli she will tell you that I would live on bean dip if I could. I should've taken a picture of the kitchen and the patio, it was quite a sight. There were dishes everywhere, bowls of bean dip, cheese queso and salsa, bags of chips, hot dog bun bags and everything else we bought at Costco or at least it seemed. Oh yeah, there was also hair clippings all over the patio. I think Troy was the main barber, but I think John did a little touch up on Gary. Colin also got a trim. They asked if I wanted to sit in the chair, but fortunately Kelli had just given me a trim before the trip. So the place was a mess, and everyone had left to go to the roof top pool. I thought they cleaned it up before they left. I decided that I wasn't cleaning it up and went to bed. I thought for sure I was going to walk out to make some coffee and get to have reveille a little earlier than scheduled so the guys could clean the mess up. To my delight it was all cleaned up, and I thought to myself, my guys do listen to me every once in awhile. They are a great group of young men.
Today, I gave them a day off from golf. Brandon used his day off to go see his swing coach to get one more tune up before the spring season kicks off. The rest of the guys ended up at the Hollywood Studios. Their first choice was Blizzard Beach, but it was undergoing some renovations. I skipped out as amusement parks just aren't my thing. I have also been getting my butt kicked by the guys all week, which is definitely a good thing, but I don't like losing. So after picking up Brandon from his lesson we went out and played nine holes. We were going to head to Downtown Disney for dinner, but a lightning storm came through the area. I guess we will have to do that another night. I think the guys enjoyed the day off and hopefully will be reenergized for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a big day! It's the first day of qualifying for the Rio Pinar tournament. It will be a 54-hole qualifier and the low five guys will start in the first tournament of the spring. I am anxious to see how the qualifier goes and who will bring their "A" game. Golf gets a little more exciting when there is something on the line.
We are working hard, doing a little team bonding and enjoying the warm weather. I am hoping the guys will want to give their own account of what's going on down here and how they are preparing. We tee it up at Rio Pinar in four more days and six more until we are sleeping in our own beds. Until next time, GO PIRATES!!!
IT'S SPRING IN FLORIDA!!!
March 9, 2011
Our day started early yesterday (Saturday, March 5), for me 1:45 am, knowing the boys they probably didn't start quite that early, but all got there in time for our 4:00 AM departure from campus. I have to thank Kelli for getting up in the middle of the night to drop me off. She was so excited when I told her the plan. I can't say enough about having such a great wife. It takes a special lady to put up with the life of a college coach. She did mention to me that the golf team will be on the road 18 days in the month of March.
We touched down at 8:45 am and were at Reunion Resort by 10:30 am. The house we rented was ready, so dropped the luggage, gripped the sticks, and the guys were hitting balls off grass after a quick lunch. Coach Braz and I headed to Costco to stock up on some food for the week. If you can imagine trying to feed seven growing boys for a week... we needed more than one cart. Duane, before you question how much we spent, come to a team meal and watch Borja eat. When we go out to dinner, he's the one we usually start handing our plates to so he can finish up what we couldn't finish.
Today (March 6), I was nice to the guys and let them sleep in a bit. Yesterday, they did have to get up probably earlier than their normal wake up time. We headed to the range at 9:20, practiced until 11:30, went back to the house for a little break and lunch, and then went back to the course at 12:15 pm for a 1:00 pm tee time. Lunches with this group can get rather interesting. Borja made a turkey sandwich topped with a sunny side up egg on top. After watching Angelo's Realistic Fitness segment on lunches, I skipped the egg and went for the PB & J. After the round we spent another hour or so practicing mostly chipping and putting. It's great when classes aren't in session and you don't have the four hours a day practice restriction. They really can't get enough after spending the last six weeks indoors.
Tomorrow (March 7), we will start a little earlier now that they have rested up. We will start at the time of day I feel is the most productive, O'Dark thirty. Actually more like 7:20 am we'll head out to the practice tee get in a couple hours of practice before a little break and lunch. Then it's off to the first tee for our third round of golf in as many days. We'll probably finish up around 2:00 pm or 3:00 pm, have another hour or so of practice sessions before heading out for a team run. We're riding in carts this week so I have to make sure the boys are ready to walk 36 holes when the time comes.
I have enjoyed the first two days with the team. They have managed for the most part to follow some of my basic rules while we are on spring break living in the same house.
- 1. Clean up the kitchen after you are done making food.
- 2. Return items that require refrigeration to the fridge.
- 3. Close chip and bread bags, nothing worse than stale bread or chips (actually wet socks are the worst).
- 4. If there are only a few Cokes left in the fridge, put another 12-pack in (according to Colin, if he is desperate he will drink warm coke, I personally will not).
Well it's off to bed for me. Along with getting the guys tuned up and ready to go, I trying to sneak in a little practice myself. It's becoming a little harder to be one of the better golfers in the department. Last spring, we added Coach Willard to the department, who is a pretty decent stick. He is also laying a foundation to what will be a great basketball program. This spring, we added Patrick Lyons, who is a former golf coach. I haven't formally sat down with Mr. Lyons to discuss his vision for Seton Hall golf, but had a good feeling after meeting him briefly. I am excited for what lies ahead for the golf team and the entire Seton Hall athletic department. GO PIRATES!!!
PS- Look for Guest bloggers this week.
IS IT SPRING YET???
March 1, 2011
Well after being buried in snow since Christmas, we are finally heading to Florida this weekend. We did manage to get one round on grass this winter. On Feb. 18, we jumped in the van and drove two hours down to River Wind Golf Course just outside Philly (don't worry Melissa it was still in the State of NJ, so no rules violations). The course was in decent shape for the time of the year, a little wet and pretty slow greens, but at least they could make a divot.
I am pretty pleased with the work the guys have put in this winter, both in the gym and golf room. I am very anxious to see how we'll play down in Florida and what the spring has in store for us. We are fortunate that we will be able to play and practice a bit before the Rio Pinar hosted by UCF. It is one of five tournaments this spring that will have a very competitive field, not including the BIG EAST Championship. My hope is that the hard work the team has put in this winter will make the difference this spring.
I know Colin and Borja are ready to prove that the fall was a fluke and they are much better players than their showing in the fall. Brandon and Troy were solid for us in the fall, but will need to have more consistent tournaments for us to win. Troy was great to start tournaments, but fell off a bit in the closing rounds. Brandon had slow starts, but made comebacks in the final round. Gary had a decent fall, but look for him to have a bigger impact on our team score this spring. The fall is tough for freshmen because they are still trying to figure where to eat, how to study, be on the road and try to play a very "mental" game. John won in the fall, the first Seton Hall player to win as an individual since Kyle Morris was here. He will need to stay out of his own head this spring and be a bit more consistent for us. After working with Jamie this past fall on some issues outside of golf, I think he is ready to start contributing to the team this spring.
Update on Brooke, last week she was +106 days since her bone marrow transplant. The doctors say there is no sign of bad cells in her marrow!!! They also said the marrow has taken up 80% of the space it needs to fill. Thank you again for all your support, especially those that helped out with Birdies for Brooke. We raised over $4,000 and hope to make it an annual campaign during the fall season. As long as Brooke continues her great progress, we will donate the money to a charity that fights against childhood cancers in Brooke's name.
Check back soon, this spring I will make more of an effort to update my blog. GO PIRATES!!!
BLOGGING IS TOUGH!
October 6, 2010
I knew this blogging thing would not be easy and it's not. It's hard to find some time to sit down and write a line or two. However, sitting in the Detroit airport is a great place to catch you up on the Seton Hall Golf team.
We have two tournaments left. Since my last blog we have played in Rutgers, Adams Cup and the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic. The highlight of the three tournaments was John winning at Rutgers, something that we have not had since Kyle Morris, an individual champion. We also finished second as a team. This fall season we have really struggled to play as a team. We have had some individuals play well but we have not made the statement I was hoping for as a team. I really believe this is one of the more talented teams on paper and past accomplishments we have had in my six years here. However, paper and past accomplishments don't get you wins.
I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Van Es for hosting us while we were in South Bend for the Gridiron Classic. They met us at the airport with open arms and welcomed us to the Midwest in "presidential" fashion. I know they talk about "Southern" hospitality but the Van Es family would give the South a run for their money. We ate at some of the best places South Bend has to offer and their support of the team during the event was great as well. Mrs. Van Es made some treats and welcome "gift bags" for the team - Kim and Melissa, don't worry, I checked to make sure the contents of the bag was within NCAA guidelines. Colin's grandparents (Van Es) were also there and it was great to meet them and their support was appreciated as well. I would highly recommend to Coach Doell that if she has the opportunity to take the women's team to South Bend, it would be well worth it.
I want to thank the Zur family (John Zur '09) for coming over to the practice round from Chicago. It is always great when alumni and their family still enjoy being around the program. Their support while John was at Seton Hall was great and it means a lot to me that their support continues after his graduation.
Update on Brooke. She finished her final treatment of chemo yesterday. The third phase of chemo is the hardest and the strongest. Now we wait for her numbers to climb back up so her little body can handle the bone marrow transplant. I think they are hoping that it will take place in early November. The Birdies for Brooke campaign is going well, I think we have about $16 per birdie, for all the birdies we make. Through 4 tournaments we have scored around 120 birdies. We are not quite to our 15 birdies per round average that I was hoping for, so we will have to make a push the last two tournaments. One pledge was for both the men's and women's teams so I will have to check with Coach Doell to see how many birdies they have accumulated. I do want to thank everyone that has pledged, the support is great and it's not too late to make a pledge if you haven't done so. You can send me an email: clay.white@shu.edu.
Hopefully, once I get a handle on this blogging thing, I will post more than once a month!! Hope you have a great day and GO PIRATES!!!
TURNING STONES UPSIDE DOWN
September 8, 2010
After a pretty solid week of qualifying, the winds and the whispering grasses at Turning Stone got the best of our team again this year. We had a couple of individuals play well, but unfortunately we also had a couple individuals "turning over every stone" trying to find their ball. When you are hunting for your ball it's never a good thing in golf, especially for your score. Our fourth score accounted for 48 of the 85 shots we counted this week. I am not sure in my first six years of coaching we have ever had our fourth score add up to this many shots. Needless to say, we are going to need to do a lot of work if we are going to get it turned around.
I know Colin and Borja will be there if they put in the work and have the desire and commitment it takes to get better at this game. They got beat up pretty bad this weekend, but with the right work and effort over the next couple of weeks, they are both talented enough to be ready for the next qualifier. Golf is a lot about confidence. Being able to stand on tee boxes and in fairways and knowing what direction your ball is going is paramount especially on windy days.
John Dawson Neufeld made his debut as a Pirate. I was pleased with his start and know he will only get better once he settles in. It was not an easy day on Sunday in the wind and on a fairly difficult course so he was tested right out of the gate. He made a few double bogeys that hurt him and most were contributed to not thinking the shots all the way through and catching a couple of bad breaks at the wrong time. Again, good breaks and bad breaks are part of all sports and being able to stay level headed and focus is the only way to deal with the good and bad breaks in golf. Accepting whatever break you get and focusing on the next shot is the only way to play golf.
Troy had a decent outing, played pretty well in the wind on Sunday was tied for 15 after the first day. I know he was not happy with his performance and will need to put in some work this week to make a serious run at the individual championship at Rutgers, where he played as a freshman and birdied the last hole to shoot 67 and help the team win the title. With each tournament I think Troy grows a little as a player and gets closer to putting it altogether. He learned this week sometimes par is enough and he doesn't have to fire at every pin.
Brandon finished with a 70 on the last day to finish tied for second for the tournament. It was a good start for the season, but I know he wants more than second place finishes this year. He has worked hard this summer and will need to continue working hard this fall to keep his game at the level we need it to be successful.
We are Pirates so we will continue to hunt for those treasures that are out there with hard work, effort, desire and accountability. GO PIRATES!!!
BIRDIES FOR BROOKE
August 24, 2010
Greetings from the Seton Hall Men's golf program. I have decided to try my hand at blogging this season to see if I can generate some more excitement for our program. I have never done one before and to tell you the truth, I have a Facebook account but rarely post anything so this will be a new adventure for me. I will make sure the guys help me out on occasion and will try to at least get a photo blog if nothing else. You know what they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words."
I can't believe we are starting practice next week and our first tournament is Labor Day weekend. I am really excited to get started but it seems like I just sent the young men home a few weeks ago. I am looking forward to welcoming back 4 of the 5 players from our team that finished just four shots shy of a play-off for the Big East championship last spring. Our sights are set high for this year and we know it will take some hard work and more dedication to golf this year.
We start with a 54-hole qualifier starting Tuesday of next week. The qualifier will determine who will be travelling to the first event. For the first time, I am not going to have a coach's pick and just take the five low guys. I am hoping this puts a little more "game time" pressure on the guys during practice, something that every coach strives for in practice.
I do have some sad news to share with you. While Kelli and I were out at the US junior this summer, I was recruiting and she was enjoying the beaches of Lake Michigan, we got a call from her sister who told us that our 2 year old niece might have leukemia. It was confirmed a couple of days later and Brooke was immediately admitted to the hospital for what will be a three month cycle of chemo treatments followed by a bone marrow transplant. Kelli and I have decided to pledge $2 for every birdie the Seton Hall men's golf team makes this fall to help with the battle that Brooke has begun. If you are interested in helping out with the "Birdies for Brooke" campaign please email or contact me with your own pledge. I will send you an invoice at the end of our fall season. We are playing in six events this fall 4 (54-hole) and 2 (36-hole) for a total of 16 rounds of golf. In the past, we have average about 12-14 birdies per round. Obviously, I am hoping we make more birdies this year, not only for Brooke but also for our team.
