Club golf tees up a bigger, competitive team

The University of Richmond’s club golf team is undergoing big changes this year because of ambitious students that have a passion for playing golf.

Last year the team did not have tryouts or compete, but this year the program increased its size and competitiveness. 

Club gold treasurer and sophomore Miller Hackman saw this change after he joined in his freshman year.

“Technically I was on it freshman year but that wasn’t a real team,” Hackman said. “The actual travel team started last semester…we played in a tournament in western Virginia” 

Wendy Sheppard, Assistant Director of Sports and Risk Management for the University of Richmond, said that COVID was particularly difficult for club sports, especially the golf team. During COVID, student organizations were not allowed to meet off campus, and since there is not a green or golf course on campus, the golf team did not have a place to practice.

“It really crippled a lot of our clubs, because why join a club you can’t actually do an activity for?,” Sheppard said. “Unfortunately, when we came back, [club golf] had to rebuild.”

Sheppard said that past presidents of the golf team have tried hard to revive it but were not successful. Sophomore Nicholas Ryan has been on the club golf team for two years but took on the role of president this year. Ryan said that he wanted to take initiative and revive the club golf team because golf and being on a team were some of his favorite things about high school.

“[The golf team] wasn’t really there freshman year,” Ryan said. “But I saw the potential for it so when I took over I was like I want to make another high school golf team.”

This year, 70 people signed up for the club at Spider Fest, Ryan said. The team hosted tryouts and a 12-person travel team was created. There are an additional 30 active members. This growth was aided by the excitement of the club having opportunities to play in tournaments with the The Colonial region of the National Collegiate Club Golf Association that includes William and Mary, The University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and James Madison University.

“We joined the college golf league, NCCGA, for the Colonial region. That gave us something to look forward to for tournaments,” Ryan said. 

Ryan also said that a lot of the new members were first-years who were excited about continuing playing golf in college. 

According to Ryan, the club golf team played a tournament at the Kingsmill Resort’s Plantation Course in Williamsburg, Va. The team had a hard start on the first day, ending in seventh place. They went up three spots on the second day, and ended in fourth place. 

“We came in a little overconfident,” Ryan said. “But then the second day we did as well as we could and jumped as many spots as possible.” 

In addition to tournaments, the team tries to hold weekly practices where they go to driving ranges and putting greens to hone their skills. Ryan said that to organize a practice, he reaches out to the Richmond Country Club and reserves a few tee times. 

Practicing is difficult for the club golf team, as it is hard to find golf courses with enough tee times. Hackman said that one of the goals of the team this year is to create stronger connections with golf clubs in the area, and even try to find a club that will let the team practice for free or at a reduced price.

In the future, the team wants to continue to grow. Hackman said that the first tournament this year was disappointing and the club wants to be more competitive in future tournaments.

“Future goals are to get a reliable practice schedule and keep growing the club every year, because I think the interest is there, we just need to stay consistent with the leadership,” Ryan said. 

Sheppard said she was proud to say that the University of Richmond sport clubs are entirely student run. Because of this, students can choose whether they want to play for fun and exercise, or if they aim to compete at a national level. Either way, sports clubs like the golf team are important for campus culture, Sheppard said. 

“The connection they make with other people on campus is one of the biggest benefits,” Sheppard said. “I think, from participating in a sport club program is finding that support system.” 

Contact sports writer Claire Mitchell at claire.mitchell@richmond.edu