Nicholls golfers back on course competing in Koasati Pines Intercollegiate tournament

The Nicholls golf team will be back in action at the Koasati Pines Intercollegiate tournament after a break from competitive play for over a month.

The last time Nicholls was in action, the young Colonels, featuring five first-year players in the program, including four freshmen, showed encouraging improvement at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational hosted by Houston Christian.

“It’s been a bit of a break,” Nicholls coach James Schilling said. “The season was somewhat planned with having a young team. We would kind of knock out some tournaments early, have a bit of time to regroup and practice and, and see if there would be any changes in the competing five and see how that would shake out.

“It would give the players an opportunity to practice, as well, along with their academic work, and then back into it.”

The event is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday at Koasati Pines Golf Club in Kinder, which is near Lake Charles.

While not exactly right next door to Thibodaux, the tournament will be a de facto home-away-from-home event for the Colonels with Nicholls serving as the host school.

“With our schedule, we typically would play in Sam Houston this week,” Schilling explained. “They were unable to get the golf course available and we needed an event. It’s been quite some time since we played at Houston Christian.

“We needed a tournament, and several other teams needed a tournament before (the Southland Conference tournament slated for April 22-24). One of the things that I have a lot of experience doing is host tournaments. I have a lot of contacts across the state. I reached out to the guys at Koasati Pines. It’s a really good golf course. They host the Notah Begay Junior National Championship in November.”

As a result, the tournament will have a distinctive Southland Conference feel to it. The event will feature 12 teams and 64 players.

Besides Nicholls, other SLC teams taking part in the event are Houston Christian, Texas A&M-Commerce, Southeastern Louisiana, and the University of New Orleans. Recent former Southland members Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin also are competing. Others in the event are Louisiana Tech, Southern University, Texas Southern, Prairie View, and Mississippi College.

“You’ll have some good flair there with some local teams. Louisiana Tech will be there. We’ll have a really good mix of Division I teams,” said Schilling.

The Koasati Pines course, said Schilling, is a lengthy one.

“It’s a championship golf course. If not the longest, one of the longest distance-wise courses in the state. It can play right at almost 7,800 yards from the back tees. It is a true championship design. It will be a good test of golf for the players. We’ll just have to see. The weather forecast is for wind. That will play a big part in how the course plays,” Schilling said.

Coming off a month of practice without playing an event, it’s pretty much status quo for the Colonels in terms of personnel,” according to Schilling.

“It’s been pretty much what we’ve seen all semester so far,” the Nicholls coach said. “Tommy Danielson, unlike in the fall, has continued to make his way into the top five. It still looks like we will have the same four freshmen again, with (Dylan) Weber, (Chase) Pochylko, (Jack) Moro, and Danielson, and either Collin Jones or Diego Prat Cruza. Regardless who makes it, that’s five new players that will be competing.

“It’s a young team. We keep saying that – I don’t know anyone in the country in Division I that’s as young as we are – but the good thing is the players are accepting it. They’re working hard and moving forward. What you hope to see, which is what we’re starting to see, are some scores that are kind of trending down.”

Positive signs for the Colonels in their last outing at the Colin Montgomerie Invitational included several of the players posting solid rounds and avoided the one big bad round in the three-round events as had been the case earlier in the year.

“You don’t want to see the same player carrying the team and consistently shooting under par,” said Schilling. “We didn’t have that the last tournament, but that last tournament was four weeks ago. We’ll see how we do this week.”

The Koasati Pines tournament came about with Nicholls, along with several other schools, needed a place to play. Because of the geographic location, the tourney might be more than just a one-and-done event, according to Schilling.

“For me to host it, you are talking about being three hours away,” he said. “It’s nothing you can’t handle. It’s just not as convenient as me doing something right at LaTour (the Colonels actual home course in Mathews), but the facility itself is first class. It’s one of the top golf courses in the state and they have everything that you need there to host and do a good job.”

And what would be a good job for the Colonels in the event?

“Continued improvement. That’s the key,” Schilling said. “I’m not overly concerned with where we are in the conference and where we are in relation to teams. What I am looking for is continued improvement because that’s what I need to see to show me how things will shake out going forward.”