As the grass on the links grows greener so do the hopes of the Lions golf team.  With the qualifiers to set the traveling team line-up in their wake, they look to improve on a fall season performance that they feel could have been better.

“We’re definitely going to work on our short games because that’s what killed us in the fall.  We have a lone senior on the team, Andy Hogenmiller, and we are all putting in extra work so he goes out the right way,” said junior Andrew Maier.

To start the second portion of their year Southern traveled to Arkansas Tech University to participate in the Dave Falconer Memorial Classic, and recovery of key player, junior Ryan Buerk, their hopes were high.  

The Lions had three finishers in the top 20 as Andy Hogenmiller, Skyler Arbuckle, and overall seventh place finisher Ryan Buerk all played solid golf throughout the weekend.  

In the end the Southern team finished fourth with a total score of 615, just 21 strokes behind the overall tournament winner Midwestern State.

“We are definitely ready since we’ve had some time off and we’re doing our best at preparing,” said Maier.  “It’s now or never at this point because we only have these last events left to boost our ranking.”

Next the Lions ventured to Hardscrabble Country Club for the Arkansas-Fort Smith Classic.  The team was led by Buerk for the second straight outing, who shot a two over 72, and finished the first day in a tie for third overall.

Still in the end tough breaks added strokes to the Lions’ scorecards, and as the final day came to its’ conclusion the Southern golf team stood in sixth place.  Lead again by Ryan Buerk with an overall eighth place finish (147), followed by Maier (159) and Hogenmiller (160).

With just three events left in their campaign, the Southern golf team strives for a finish at the top of the leader board.  

Following endless practice rounds and early morning wake up calls, the team is ready for the tournament.

“It’s something MOSO golf hasn’t done in awhile so it’s a big deal to this team,” described Maier.