The 2010 Regular Season in 3 Paragraphs

2010 Season Preview

The new golf season is finally upon us! I know the Trinity Golf team is very excited for another chance to play what might be the best sport in the world for another three months together. When I last posted, we had just come off a disappointing ending to our season at the 1A State Championship. A third place finish behind Kerr-Vance Academy and Cape Fear Christian Academy was not what our team had envisioned prior to that tournament. However, to steal a quote from Coach Mumford, this baseball coach, "This ain't last year."

This year, our team has started practice with more enthusiasm than any golf team we have had at Trinity. This year, we welcome on four new full-time players (Alaina Yeatts, Bowen Brinegar, Jesse Sanchez, and Josh Munroe) that are looking to make contributions to a team looking for a complete starting lineup 1-6. This year, we welcome back an 8th grader (Evan Norfleet) who is starting to mature into a solid scorer. This year, we welcome back a trio of sophomores (Andrew James, Matt Dengler, and Weldon Walker) who bring energy and work ethic to practice every day we're tog. Finally, this year, two of Trinity Golf's "founding fathers (Mark Bell and Todd Eckstein)" look to finish what they started by taking home Conference and State Championships.

Our goal as a team this year has nothing to do with how we play, but how we think. We will train ourselves to think in two ways: positives and affirmatives. One could say those are the same thing. They aren't, but when put together, the two can be as effective as any golf shot. Positive thinking is visualizing the best possible scenario for a shot or hole from a given situation. We can't be sitting in the middle of the woods thinking to ourselves, "My round is done and I don't care anymore." Positive thinking would be to say, "I'm going to give myself a chance to putt for par. I need to punch out and then put a 7 iron on the green." That is part one; part two is to think in affirmatives, or to use another word, confidence. We have to be standing over three foot putts saying, "I'm going to put this in the back of the cup," instead of, "If I make it I think I break 45." We must be confident and positive for each of our shots this season to be successful. We hope you are looking forward to this season as much as the team is and an update will be posted following each of our matches. Thanks for following the Trinity Golf Team.

Up's and Down's

What a great experience this first state championship has been for the team. No doubt this trip has been a way for all of us to learn something about ourselves and the game of golf in some way or another. Today was just one of those pills you have to swallow in order to learn how much you really want to win. All of us got eaten up by the course today at some point today. A few times we were able to fight back against the course, but these times were well outnumbered by the times the course just didn't let up. We are all disappointed in our 3rd place finish behind Cape Fear Christian and Kerr-Vance (congrats to KVA and Beau Cutts for a great week). Still, this experience just adds fuel to the fire for many of us to get back to the practice range and get better. Although some people would give up after a tough two days like these two, our guys aren't quitters and we can't wait to put ourselves in a position to win next year. We kept our heads held high and acted like gentlemen, and for that we are winners. The scores for both days are below for all the players:



Matt Bonner: 49-45:94
48-42:90



Evan Norfleet: 47-43:90
45-47:92

Weldon Walker (made all-state team): 41-41:82
43-39:82

Ross Seaman: 43-45:88
43-43:86

Matt Dengler: 42-46:88
45-47:92

Todd Eckstein (made all-state team): 38-40:78
38-39:77

Later tonight or tomorrow I will have pictures up from the trip. Keep following this blog to find results from tournaments the guys are playing in over the summer. Thanks for taking an interest in us!

Grind it Out

The first day of this state championship has been a real test of golf. We started the day by waking up at about 7 to pouring rain, which did not go over well with many of the guys. After getting out of bed and all showered up, the rain cleared up in time for Matt Bonner to have about 15 minutes to warm up (which is not a lot by golf standards). The rain held off for us until about 11:30, which threw some of us off for a couple swings. But the key to playing good golf is to figure out how to get back on track when nature or the course throws you off. Our guys did a pretty solid job of not getting too sidetracked by the rain. All of us were able to make our bad shots not too bad. As a result, we are tied for second place with rival Cape Fear Christian at 336 (top four scores count). Below are the totals:

Matt Bonner: 49-45=94

Evan Norfleet: 47-43= 90

Weldon Walker: 41-41=82

Ross Seaman: 43-45= 88

Matt Dengler: 42-46= 88

Todd Eckstein: 38-40=78

Tomorrow Matt Bonner will be off first for our team at 10:40 with Evan, Ross, Matt Dengler, Weldon, and Todd following. We got some solid practice in after the round and after we eat some good food, finish some homework and get a full night of rest, we'll be ready for a better day 2.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Well the first day down here in Pinehurst has been a fun one with many laughs and some slight frustration. Most of the team had never played Mid-Pines before today, so everyone had to become aquainted with the course. Some of us got a bit more aquainted than others, but all of us are ready to go play well tomorrow. The course is playing tough, with the greens playing hard and fast. So after a stop at Smithfield's Chicken 'n BBQ, we all went out to the illuminated chipping and putting greens for some extra practice (Matt Dengler had a run-in with a fox in the bushes). Everyone is psyched to play for a state championship and we can't wait for tomorrow morning to come. Matt Bonner is the first one of us off at 9, with Evan Norfleet, Weldon Walker, Ross Seaman, Matt Dengler, and Todd Eckstein following him in subsequent tee times. We'll have news and pictures from our day tomorrow posted by tomorrow night. Wish us luck and we'll represent Trinity well!

Welcome To The Blog

Welcome all who have taken the time to look at this blog. This is where anyone can keep up with the Trinity School of Durham and Chapel Hill golf team. This is where you can find updates on all things that might be related to Trinity Golf, whether it is school competition or summer golf for the individual players. Thanks for taking an interest and we'll be coming to you soon with our first news tomorrow night when we get to Pinehurst for the State Championship.