Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36A ny time you can get an elite field of golfers on a championship golf course on national television, it is certainly a great experience. So the East Lake Cup was a great event for our program. We break our season into three different segments: Fall, Spring and Championship. The East Lake Cup was the final event of our fall season and it will help prepare players and coaches alike for the championship season, which is ulti- mately the most important time of the year for us. It was another opportunity for us to get match play experience against excellent competition. As a coach, I am always striving to create un- comfortable situations for our student-ath- letes while we are at home practicing, so they are more prepared for this when we are on the road.The East Lake Cup certainly had a lot of things that could make you uncomfortable if you allowed it. Whether it be TV towers or thinking of playing the course the pros play, you can’t let those thoughts take away from your focus on the right things. Match play definitely seems to bring out more emotion in guys than stroke play. It is great theater and definitely one reason I think col- lege golf is getting more and more popular. It is man on man, and the average fan under- stands what his/her team has to do to win. Our match against Oregon in the semifinals came down to the final hole and Oregon did the things you have to do to win the match. Ultimately, while the loss hurts and we were disappointed, what really matters is that we learn from it and understand what we have to do to become the team we know we can be. All year long, we talk about taking steps. We ask our guys to stay focused on what they have to do to get a little bit better each day. Great teams achieve great things when the players own the team and the team’s results. I believe this is true because when you own something you take pride in it. We are now in our off-season, which is a time for our guys to get some much needed rest and to focus on schoolwork. It is also a time, however, where we will see the types of steps this team will take from fall to spring season, in becoming the best version of us going forward. Golf is a game that rewards players who understand how important it is to believe in your process and the steps you take, not just the end results. This is a lesson to learn at your youngest age, so you can carry it for- ward to college and beyond. TakeSteps,NotStridesBYSCOTTLIMBAUGH Mary Lou Mulflur has been the head women’s golf coach for the University of Washington for 33 years. Her Huskies are the reigning NCAA women’s champion. Scott Limbaugh is the head men’s golf coach at Vanderbilt University and was named the 2016 GCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year. COLLEGE COACHES’ CORNER Have Fun and Look at the Positives BYMARYLOUMULFLUR I n two short years the East Lake Cup has become a unique event in col- legiate golf. Along with that, it is probably one of the most entertaining, too. After all, how often do you see your school mascot driving a golf cart around and high-fiving the golfers? It’s also the only chance that men’s or women’s teams get, other than the national championship, to be part of a televised collegiate event. Because of the timing, it is also the only live golf televised on the days it takes place. This means it is the sole focus of the Golf Channel for those three days. It means live interviews, live on-course coverage, shot tracers and digital lea- derboards. Aware of what a big stage it is, we nevertheless went in to the event with our same mentality as always – have more fun than anyone and be prepared to hit great golf shots. The event opened with a wonderful dinner at the College Football Hall of Fame, located right next to our hotel. Each team was introduced to mu- sic while a brief highlight clip played on the big screen. The players and coaches came onto the stage and were greeted with warm applause, which was very cool indeed. It became even cooler when I realized that Lou Holtz, the former football coach and ESPN commentator, was the guest speaker. He didn’t disappoint, offering a great message about making the most of ev- ery situation. Things took a brief turn for the worse, though, once play started. But after placing last during the stroke play por- tion of the event and being downright embarrassed by our score, our team bounced back and beat Stanford less than 24 hours later. It was certainly the upset of the tournament and made for great TV drama. We absolutely had a lot more fun on Tuesday than we did on Monday! We were able to lighten up, instead of worrying about what other people were saying about us. Ultimately, we would fall to Duke in the finals, but we did not leave At- lanta feeling as though we had failed. We took what many people might see as failure – our performance on the first day – and chose to view it as an opportunity to learn more about our- selves as individuals and as a team. We learn the most when we are will- ing to look at a situation and discover the things that help us grow instead of dwelling on the negative. This is definitely an event to shoot for as a collegiate player. Only the four semifinalists from the NCAA Cham- pionships, men and women, get to be a part of the East Lake Cup. I am so glad our team got to experience it, and we are all shooting for a return appear- ance next November. January 2017 | 9 Subscribe today at juniorgolfmag.net All year long, we talk about taking steps. We ask our guys to stay focused on what they have to do to get a little bit better each day.