Golf set to play final invitational of Spring season

The Nicholls State University’s golf team prepares for the final tournament of their regular season before the Southland Conference Championship round closes out the year.

“I have definitely gotten more aggressive during the second part of the season, but it’s made me a little more inconsistent,” senior Peyton McCulloch said. “If I can make a lot of birdies and throw in a few par’s, I think I’ll be good for this next tournament.”

With over three weeks in-between tournaments, the Colonels have had time to practice and play qualifying rounds to stay sharp over the extended break.

“It’s not a tournament, but the mindset is similar,” sophomore Albert Badosa-Soler said on playing practice rounds. “We just try to keep focused and it gives us time to work on our swing and stuff, so it’s pretty good.”

Badosa-Soler, who finished the last tournament +1 on a par 72, said he enjoys the weather in Louisiana because it’s usually warm and he can golf here year-round.

He credited Coach Schilling as the reason he has improved throughout the season.

“I used to have coaches all the time focusing on my swing and trying to change things, and when I got here Coach [Schilling] let me go on my own,” Badosa-Soler said on his improved swing. “He lets us play and figure out what works for us.”

The Colonels’ next tournament will be the Tiger Invitational in Columbia, Missouri on April 10.

The course is made of bent grass, the same that will be played on in the Southland Conference Championship two weeks after.

“It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s definitely a big factor,” McCulloch said on the different grass. “It rolls a lot faster downhill, and it’s different than the greens we’re used to playing on.”

Although McCulloch has one more semester of college left ahead of him, his eligibility to play will be up after this season.

“It’s been a long but also short journey,” McCulloch said. “Four years seems like a lot, but man it went by fast. It’s going to be a bittersweet moment.”

McCulloch’s father was one of the first quarterbacks in Nicholls’ school history, playing during the inaugural 1972 campaign.

McCulloch said that his dad, being an alumni, played a factor in him committing to Nicholls in 2013.

“It’s a small University and I liked that because I knew most of the people around here,” McCulloch said. “I wanted to be far enough away to where I couldn’t go home all the time but it’s close enough to where I can go home whenever I want.”

McCulloch said he hopes to potentially remain around the team in some capacity next semester, possibly as an assistant coach.

“I’m planning on giving it a go on the pro side when I’m out of school, but it’s not for everybody, so we’ll see how it works out,” McCulloch said. “I picked up golf because I can play it until I die.”

The Southland Conference Championship round tees off on April 24 at 8 a.m. in McKinney, Texas, where McCulloch will play for the Colonels one last time.