Yellow Jackets stumble at the Tennessee River Rumble

By Evan Martens

The Jackets traveled to Lenoir City, Tennessee, for the Tennessee River Rumble at Wind River Golf Club, where it did not go their way, as the men’s golf team finished T-17, shooting +61.

The tournament was an extremely tough challenge for the Jackets, which included the number one, fifth, ninth, 11th, 20th, 34th and 49th ranked teams in Division II.

The first round did not go as they had wanted from the jump. The Jackets, after just the first nine holes, sat in last.

Junior D.J. Norman expressed frustration, saying, “Played a legit golf course against a big field, had an opportunity to see where I’m at, and my game did not show.”

The game of golf goes like that sometimes. The Jackets just never seemed comfortable, and unfortunately, it showed.

The bright spot of round one was junior Ian Reed, who shot a 73 (+1) to lead them.

“I honestly didn’t get too caught up in the birdies and bogeys; the scorecard looked a lot more chaotic than it felt. I was just trying to trust the fact that I was swinging well and that kept me in a good place,” Reed said.

Norman followed, shooting a 74, Danny DeHimer a 82 and Alexander Ritter a 89.

But the Jackets held their head high as they jumped into round two.

“I always feel like round two is the easiest, as you just played and saw the whole course with the same pins,” Ritter said.

Due to this, Ritter came out firing with five birdies in his first nine holes. He also added one more birdie on his sixteenth hole of the day, which led to his first collegiate round under par, shooting 71 (-1).

Ritter was able to bounce back from round one to round two.

“My attitude from the jump round one was positive and confident, even when it wasn’t going well,” Ritter said. “Towards the later part of the first round, my goal was to gain momentum going into the next round. I just wasn’t being myself on the greens, so I just needed to clean up a few things, and if I could do that, I knew it would be good.”

Even with Ritter’s great round, the rest of the team struggled to find a rhythm. Reed followed behind with a 77.

Dehimer shot a 79, and Norman finished round two with an 80.

Starting round three, the Jackets knew they were far behind and had to make up some ground to earn a respectable finish.

Round three went almost the exact same as round two, where one player, this time Aiden Hibbard, shot under par, but the rest of the team lagged behind.

Rounds one and two were Hibbard’s worst rounds of the year, and he had to switch his mentality going into round three.

“After my first day, I was just trying to focus on moving forward and not dwelling on the past,” Hibbard said. “It was very hard mentally to even get up for our round, let alone play, but I went in with a good mindset, not thinking about the day before. I played freer in the third round and was thankfully able to play much better.”

Once again, Reed followed behind with a 76. Norman shot a 77, and Ritter also shot a 77.

Ritter emphasized how round two helped him carry momentum into round three and hopefully for the rest of the season. 

“It was good for confidence,” Ritter said. “Coach Ritter and I have been working on attitude regardless of the results, so that once the results came, I could be off and running. Also, it just shows me that I don’t need to be perfect to go low and that it just takes quality shots, nothing special.”

The Jackets head south on March 30 and 31 to play in Florence, Indiana, at the Belterra Classic.

Evan Martens is a freshman broadcasting journalism major with a minor in business marketing. He loves playing any and all sports and going to the gym.