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The University of Mississippi Athletics
NCAA East Regional Quotes
5/13/2008 | Men's Golf
Head Coach Ernest Ross
Q: Talk about what the team has done since exams are over to prepare for the NCAAs
A: We played the last couple of days, and we have been pretty erratic. I don't know if it is due to the lay-off, but our technique doesn't look real sharp. We are going to spend a little time here practicing before we leave town. We have as good of a practice facility as we can find, so why not practice here before we go.
Q: On the factor of exams and being able to focus just on golf now
A: I took a different approach this year, because exams are pretty stressful for everybody. We really backed off the guys during exam week. Most of them came out an hour here and there on their own to practice a little bit, but we tried not to really push them too hard. We are going to see if this approach is better than what we did last year.
Q: Do you know anymore about any aspects of the course that you are playing or is golf in this situation mostly about yourselves and taking care of your business and improving?
A: Yes. Golf is more about you and maybe the course but less on the opponents. Given reasonable weather, I think we will have to be close to even par on this course to have a chance to advance, and it may be lower than that if the weather is good. We still won't have any real rough at this golf course. It's still early in the spring to grow any real rough, so the guys can turn it loose and go. I expect the greens to be faster than they were this past fall. That's ok for us because we got a really fast putting green here. We've been practicing on that. Our guys know what to expect; they are smart enough. Our guys have already visualized what they will be seeing.
Q: Going into last year it was the first year to experience this in awhile. Every year is different; what is the approach going into this year?
A: Our guys are much more comfortable going to regionals this year. We achieved that goal last year, and didn't make it through. I really do believe that we've done a good job with our guys this year helping them believe that this is just one more tournament. Even though I know the make up of every year is different, you've got Jesse who's been there before (with another program). Kyle who's been here (but he didn't go last year). He's been in the mix so long, and then David was there last year. Kyle is probably the most mature guy we have on our team, and I am really not worried about him getting nervous and playing. He has played enough to handle this. Jonathan Randolph is very calm about most things. We've got a group of guys that will not be intimidated or in awe of the field or in awe of any of the players. We're going to handle it well. We'll just approach it like it is another tournament. It's just another golf course we've played before. The teams will be better. But if we just go out there and play our game and try not to do too much, we will be there at the end. We are solid throughout our five guys. As long as we don't try to put too much pressure on ourselves and just go out there and play.
Senior Kyle Ellis
Q: Fun time to play golf with nothing else to worry about?
A: It's awesome. We're getting paid per diem everyday, and we've got another three weeks of it hopefully. I'm done with school now (graduated), so it's a good feeling. It's a load off my back for sure. I just want to go out there and be a leader for these guys this week.
Q: If you do get to Purdue, how will it be for you to leave with a good taste in your mouth?
A: Like I said a couple of weeks ago I think we've got a good team in here now. With the guys coach is bringing in here next year, it's not like we are re-starting we are just re-loading. It's the way the program is headed right now. They'll be able to get into bigger tournaments next year, and that helps the program out as well. There is a lot of stuff we can still do for this program, but overall it's on the rise.
