The one constant in the weeks leading up to the men's golf season at Monmouth College has been the weather's inability to let Cory Bizarri's team get any outdoor practice.
     
The team will head to Arizona the first week of March for what just might be their first venture outdoors in 2019. That's made for a challenging preseason after a fall season of growth.
     
"We had a couple of events last fall where we played well as a team and we had a few individuals show flashes of what they're capable of doing," said Bizarri. "That's encouraging to see our 3-4-5 guys putting up some low scores. We just need that consistency."
     
The Scots open the spring campaign in Arizona, where they'll face St. John's University in a match play event. Bizarri will break with tradition upon the team's return to the Midwest, competing in southern Illinois a week earlier than the Scots' traditional start date.
     
"It seems like we've always lost a meet due to a weather cancellation," explained Bizarri. "By adding the meet three hours south, we're counting on the weather to be good enough the third week in March to play. We expect to get a good week of work done in Arizona and hit the ground running when we get back home."
     
The Scots enter the season looking for senior Nate Monroe (Trivoli, Ill./Farmington) and junior Sam Gillen (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville) to lead the charge. The pair led the team in scoring average last fall and are the top two scorers returning from last season.
     
"Nate didn't have the fall he would have liked," said Bizarri. "He had an extremely heavy academic load last fall and really couldn't practice on a regular basis. His load is much lighter this spring and I expect to see him get back to his old form. He's got tons of ability and shot a 68 last fall. That's how good he can be. Sam has made some strides, but we need him to be consistent with the low numbers. He's a very good ball striker. When he's on, he's as good as anyone tee-to-green. He just needs to stay relaxed and have fun."
     
Seniors Mason Ely (Chillicothe, Ill./IVC) and Braden Williams (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap) and freshman Ben Dobberstein (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) figure to fill out the Scots' regular-season five-man team. The trio were within three strokes of each other over the fall season and that would be fine with Bizarri, as long as the scores go down in the spring.
     
"Mason, Braden and Ben are really interchangeable," reported Bizarri. "Any one of those guys can pop a low score in the 70s. Braden had a breakthrough with a couple really good rounds last fall. He had some solid rounds in the 70s. He just needs a little more swing work. Mason is very consistent, typically flirting with scores in the 70s. He's got the ability and will be in the 70s in practice, but that changes in tournament play. If he can relax in the tournament setting, he'll go low. Ben was nervous last fall as a freshman and that's to be expected. He's come along nicely and is much more comfortable now. He's got a world of ability and I wouldn't be surprised to see him consistently in the 70s by the end of the year and be a solid player for us."
     
Junior Jarrod Hall (Perth, Australia/Indian Hills) and senior Zach Ferris (Galesburg, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame) round out the Scots for the spring season. They'll vie for the sixth-man duties at the Midwest Conference Championships when the teams expand from five players to six. Hall joins the team for the first time after competing with the men's soccer team in the fall. Ferris, who transferred in last season, begins his final campaign with the Scots.
     
"Jarrod is a good athlete, pure and simple," said Bizarri. "It's his first go 'round at college golf, but he's got the potential to be a good college golfer. The trip to Arizona will really be beneficial for him. Zach is a great guy to have on the team. He's a tremendous teammate, and his golf game has improved drastically since last year."
     
The Scots will need Bizarri's proposed consistency when they wrap up the season May 2-4 at the MWC meet in Rockford, Ill. Scores tend to inflate somewhat over the 54 holes at Aldeen Golf Course, giving Bizarri an insight on what his team will need to do if they're to bring back championship hardware.
     
"Consistent scoring," was Bizarri's simple answer. "You rarely see super-low scores. It's all about being consistent. If we can avoid any really high scores and maybe have a couple of guys put up a really low number, we can challenge. Keeping it at 82 or below will be the target. It won't be easy, but it's a simple matter of playing well for three straight days. Making progress this spring to propel us into the championship weekend is key."