The Texas Wesleyan men’s golf team wrapped up their 2014-15 season with a sixth place finish last weekend at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournament in Florida.
This marked the second year in a row that the Rams finished sixth in a national tournament, and had their top player place third. Jose Rolz finished third for the Rams last year; this year it was junior Nikolaj Brons-Piche.
While disappointed the team didn’t win, head coach Bobby Cornett said he was proud of how his guys prepared for the tournament.
“The guys worked hard all season,” Cornett said. “But just didn’t have the right stuff on that particular four days.”
Cornett said that the Rams had some really big moments and a really good season overall, finishing every regular season tournament in the top five.
One thing Cornett said he will remember most about the season was that the team worked through some “bumpy roads” at the beginning and “by the end of the season they were very together as a group, and playing for each other.”
Brons-Piche was Wesleyan’s top performer at the Florida tournament, shooting 282 over the four days; his third place finish was out of 156 players, according to ramsports.net.
Brons-Piche, who was also named a 3rd team All-American this week, was happy with his performance, but was disappointed that the Rams couldn’t get a win for the seniors.
“The first day we shot even par, with our best guy not playing as well as he’s capable of,” Brons-Piche said. “I was disappointed especially for our seniors, and that we didn’t play that well after that first day.”
Brons-Piche said that he was proud of how he played, and that he “felt like he worked hard all year and had nothing to show for it” until the season-ending tournament.
“Finally I was able to piece it together and play how I know I can play, and how my coach knows I can play,” Brons-Piche said. “It felt really good to post a number.”
This is Brons-Piche’s second national tournament. He finished tied for 29th last season.
The Rams had two other players named as All-Americans. Rolz, graduating senior, was named to the first team and sophomore Steven Anderson was named to the second team, according to ramsports.net.
The Rams have competed in twelve consecutive national tournaments, dating back to a brief period when they competed in the NCAA Division II. The last time they did not make the tournament was 1993, according to ramsports.net.
Brons-Piche, who will be one of the few seniors next year, is really excited to see how both he and the team perform.
“I’m really excited for next season, I’m really going to be the only one who’s been there for four years,” Brons-Piche said. “I’m really excited to pass on my knowledge to the new guys, and I think we can be really good next season.”
