With one last swing of the club, the Marquette men’s golf team finished its 2011 spring season April 19 at the Big East Championship tournament.
The men topped the eventual Big East champs Notre Dame during a match play event in Lutz, Fla., on Feb. 12, but were unable to take them down a second time, as the Fighting Irish topped the Golden Eagles — with six other teams finishing in between the two — to claim the conference crown.
It was a disappointing finish to the Big East Championship, but the team improved, coach Steve Bailey said.
The Golden Eagles improved their finishing place by two from last year’s tournament. They also had their best finish of the entire spring season, placing seventh with a score of 904.
While seniors Kelly Kretz and Ben Sieg may have appeared on leaderboards for most of the season, freshmen Corey Konieczki and Michael Motz didn’t shy into the background.
The team will continue to progress, especially with a good freshman group like Konieczki and Motz, Kretz said.
Konieczki’s stand-out moment came during the fall when he shot a personal best round of two-under-par with a 69, the only other Marquette player to finish in the 60s besides Kretz.
Konieczki said he wants to “step up and take charge and be a leader for some of the younger guys” next season.
Motz found his stride at the FAU Spring Break Championship on March 27, where he finished second among the Marquette group and tied for 36th overall. He earned his best finish at 29th place two weeks later at the Hoosier Invitational on April 10.
The whole experience of playing the different courses and being with the team will help prepare the two for their sophomore years, Konieczki said.
Compared to the 2009-’10 season, the team seems to have turned up its game, placing higher in each of the spring tournaments to which it returned.
The team’s best regular season match came when it improved its position seven spots from last year to eighth place at the Spring Break Tournament.
After the victory against Northwestern at the FAU Tournament, the team was happy since both coaches were previously part of the Wildcats golf program, Kretz said.
Bailey previously coached Northwestern and assistant coach David Merkow played for the Wildcats. In his first year with Marquette, Bailey seems to be making positive changes for the program.
“It was such a warm welcome from the players and the Marquette community,” Bailey said.
Players found him to be both encouraging and helpful.
“With me and Motz not knowing what college golf would be like, the coaching really helped us out in improving our scores,” Konieczki said.
With two of the top golfers leaving the program next season, everyone will have a new experience.
Although Kretz will remain on campus to finish school, it will “definitely be weird” not having to put in extra time golfing, he said.
Facing the changing roster next season will call for underclassmen to step up and “fill the shoes” of the seniors, Bailey said.
“Preparation starts with today, not just next year’s first practice,” he said.
