As the team tries to better its runner-up finish in 2006, the defending champ will be on campus, 1,200 miles from the Winter Garden, Fla.,”Last year at the Big East/MAC Challenge, then-freshman Ben Sieg fired rounds of 70-70-69 to win the tournament. The Marquette golf team will depart for the same tournament today, but without something, or should I say, someone.
As the team tries to better its runner-up finish in 2006, the defending champ will be on campus, 1,200 miles from the Winter Garden, Fla., venue. One may ask how the heck the team could leave Sieg behind. He won the tournament last year, for Pete's sake.
The 6-foot-5-inch sophomore has yet to compete this fall, a testament to the team's depth. Even Sieg conceded his play of late has not been up to par, no pun intended. But lacking scores are not an excuse to deny Sieg a chance to defend his title. That's like winning the Iowa caucus, but pulling out before New Hampshire.
"I think we were all a little surprised when we heard Sieg wouldn't be going," said junior Mike Van Sickle. "I know I'd be frustrated if I didn't get the chance to repeat."
Though Van Sickle has found his way to the winner's circle four times since last spring, Sieg's win last November might be more noteworthy. He became the first Marquette golfer to take home an individual title since Nathan Colson did so in 2002. Sieg also won in just his third collegiate tournament.
"I couldn't do anything wrong," Sieg said of last year's Big East/MAC Challenge. "I was never in trouble."
In 2006, Sieg suffered just six bogeys over the tournament's 54 holes, and those were merely failed up-and-downs. After his victory, he played in all six spring events.
Having yet to play this fall, a redshirt season remains in the cards for Sieg. He asked coach Tim Grogan about the possibility of redshirting earlier this year.
"Coach wanted to keep me on in case someone got injured," Sieg said.
Not traveling with the team to Florida for the weekend, Sieg said the likelihood of redshirting greatly improved. Fifth-year senior Mike Bielawski redshirted his third year on campus and realized the benefits.
"If you're working on some part of your game, you have nine months off to make adjustments," Bielawski said. "If you have to play week to week, it's hard to trust small changes in your swing."
A redshirt season provides a fifth academic year, thus lessening the demand of schoolwork. It also elongates playing eligibility.
"I'm happy I did it," Bielawski said. "It helped the team in the long run."
However, when redshirting, the senior captain never missed his chance to defend a win. Sieg will be refused this opportunity, an injustice of the highest degree.
When winning a major championship on the PGA Tour, a player earns a five-year exemption. This isn't the pros, but Sieg could not even get one year of immunity.
For the past few weeks, Grogan said the traveling roster would depend heavily on team qualifying rounds. Unfortunately for Sieg, the "only-as-good-as-your-last-round" mentality resulted in the out-of-bounds decision to sit him this weekend.
Even if Sieg failed to break 80 in any qualifying round, his victory last fall should have punched his ticket to at least this one tournament. Although a redshirt year may benefit the Golden Eagles over the next three years, the decision to sit Ben Sieg robbed him of an opportunity he may never see again.
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