Last year was a disappointing one for the Hillsdale Men’s Golf team — but, a new start, along with some new blood, is bringing new hope this season.

The team was frustrated with its performance last year, failing to qualify for regionals. This year, Hillsdale is ranked tenth in the NCAA II Midwest Region rankings. Coach Thompson says hitting the ground running will be a key to success this year.

“We got off to a slow start last fall–kind of put ourselves behind the eight-ball,” Thompson said. “We ended off the fall with a couple of pretty good finishes and started playing some better golf in the spring. We were just kind of playing catch-up the entire year.”

Thompson is optimistic about how last year’s performance will affect this coming season.

“I think it will affect us in a good way,” Thompson said. “All of the best teams in the country are playing a full summer schedule. They’re seamlessly transitioning right from the spring to their summer tournaments, playing a full schedule, staying sharp competitively, and coming right back to school in the fall ready to roll. That’s what we need to do.”

Official team practices started Tuesday, but fifth-year senior Drew Gandy was already organizing unofficial practice sessions with his teammates leading up to this week.

“We’ve been going in small groups that just actually go practice, whether that’s hit balls or practice short game putting,” Gandy said. “That’s definitely a little different. That’s something that wasn’t a part of old teams that I’ve been on.”

Gandy sees this departure from the past as an attempt to avoid the slow start to last year’s season. When asked about the sessions, Gandy did not want to take credit for bringing the team out to the course for extra practice.

“I just think we have a lot of really motivated guys on the team,” Gandy said. “If someone’s behind guiding the motivation, maybe it’s me. But I don’t think it would be happening if guys weren’t motivated and wanted to play and get better.”

Maxwell Burns is the only freshman on the team this year. Even before official practices, Burns said his transition onto the team has been seamless so far. Burns is looking to learn from the more experienced players on the team.

“They’ve all been super helpful,” Burns said. “They’ve all let me know that if I need support in balancing golf — because golf is going to take up a lot of my time — they are there to help me, which has been super nice.”

Thompson said he has high expectations for the upcoming season.

“I would expect us to qualify for regionals and hopefully make a run at qualifying for nationals,” Thompson said. “Which is ultimately what I want this program to do. That’s kind of my expectation every year and I think they’re really starting to buy into that. I think they’re excited.”

The team competes in Canton, Ohio, for the Glenmoor Fall Classic September 12-13. Glennmoor will be quickly followed by the Doc Spragg Invitational in Findlay, Ohio.

“I think they’re ready, especially after last fall.” Thompson said. “I think they’re ready to come out guns blazing.”