Coming into his freshman year on the golf team, Ted Gray did not expect to see a whole lot of action on the course because of a sub-par summer.

But when the last round of golf wrapped up Wednesday at the Conference USA men's golf championship, Gray had played in every round for the Golden Eagles, led the team with a season scoring average of 73.48 and was named a member of the C-USA All-Freshman team.

"It was pretty exciting. It was my first year, and I didn't expect to do this well," said Gray, about being named one of the top freshmen in C-USA.

"I thought it was pretty cool."

Gray, a four-year letter winner at Oshkosh West High School, got his collegiate career off to a blazing start last September in his first round of golf at Marquette, breaking the course record at the John Piper Intercollegiate with a score of 65. From then on, head coach Tim Grogannever never took Gray out of the lineup.

"I didn't come off a real good summer," Gray said. "I hoped to play and I did, and I was a lot better than expected. It was pretty exciting."

His performances at the John Piper Intercollegiate, along with his second-place finish at the 49er Collegiate Classic — where he shot a 7-under-par— were his highlights for the season.

"That was the last tournament of the fall and a good way to end it going into the spring season," Gray said.

Over the course of the season, Gray led all Marquette golfers with four rounds under 70, shooting under par in three different tournaments. Much of his success has been because of his ability to drive the ball well off the tee, but Gray is working on other aspects of his game to help make him a complete player.

"It's an important part of the game," he said, of playing well off the tee. "It helps you get into position to get birdies. It's something I used to spend a lot of time but now it's mostly the short game."

In preparation for next year, Gray is hoping to learn from some of the obstacles he encountered during the spring season and to get off to another fast start in the fall.

"I didn't do as well this spring," Gray said. "There are a lot of things I need to work on. Hopefully I can get those down and put it all together for next fall."

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 26 2005.