Entering his tenth season as head coach of the Nicholls State men’s and women’s golf teams, James Schilling is expecting a lot out of his players. “The players we have know the game and have the ability to place very well at every tournament we play in,” Schilling says.

Schilling has a few newcomers and transfers on both teams and says they are working well with the returning players.

“We’ve got newcomers Marco Zirov, a transfer from UAB and Justin Stoski working well on the men’s team, and freshmen Jessica Marquart and Theunette Van der Walt, a transfer from UNO, doing great with the women,” Schilling says.

Returning to the men’s team this year is second team all-Southland Conference selection senior Donnie Schmitt, senior Nat Bhanthumachinda and junior James Terrebonne, with junior Daniele Dunlop, sophomore Emiley Patton and junior Natalie Robinson returning on the women’s side.

“It always helps to have a good group of returning players that you know can be solid every time they get on the course,” Schilling says.

For the men’s team, Schilling says he believes having two seniors on the team will raise the level of confidence in the rest of the players. He also says the men’s team as a whole should be very competitive.

“Having players on the team like Nat and Donnie who have so much talent and experience, you can only hope that the rest of the team benefits from it,” Schilling says. “We also have Marco who was on a team ranked 60th in the country, and that helps as well.”

On the women’s team, Schilling says his top two scorers last year, Dunlop and Robinson, help guide the younger players on the team.

“Although starting two freshmen can hurt a team, with Natalie and Daniele at the top, everyone will rally around them,” Schilling says.

The season started for both teams Sept. 10 at the Centenary Fall Classic in Shreveport where the men’s team finished second and the women’s team finished fifth. The men shot a 585 while the women shot a 644.

Schilling says he is pleased with the way his players fared at the tournament, but knows it is a long season and both teams have a ways to go.

“Of course I’m excited that we played so well, but at the same time, we play in the fall and spring semesters, so there is a lot of golf left,” he says. “Naturally, you want to have that same tempo going into conference play in the spring, and I think that our players have what it takes to do well in conference.