Injuries take their toll and players don’t always live up to their expectations.
That’s one of the fundamental laws of sports. Regardless of level, you can never bank on everything happening exactly as you planned it.
What you can count on, however, is how all good teams offset the inevitable – depth.
After more than three years on the job, San Diego State men’s golf head coach Ryan Donovan finally feels like he has that aspect of his team figured out.
“Last season we just didn’t have enough depth in order to compete at the level that we wanted to,” Donovan said. “On paper, this (season’s) team is the best we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Last year, that lack of depth was exposed at the worst time: the playoffs.
“Our number one guy, Aaron Goldberg, got sick in the second round with food poisoning,” Donovan said. “When it came around to replacing him, we really had no one to back him up. So, it was a depressing year, but with the guys I knew I had signed for this year, I just thought it was a year that I could just put to the side.”
SDSU brings in four new freshmen, including Johan Carlsson and Matt Hoffenberg, both of whom will start.
The Aztecs kick off their season tomorrow at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate tournament in Albuquerque, N.M.
Although each tournament is important, Donovan realizes how vital it is to get off on the right foot.
“It is going to be very important for this team to get off to a good start,” Donovan said. “We all know amongst ourselves that we’re good but now we’ve got to go out and demonstrate it. We can’t just go out and talk about it, we’ve got to go out and do it and do it early.”
With some of the recently acquired depth, however, comes some inexperience. Though Donovan expects a strong opener, he realizes that some of the best performances by SDSU will come toward the end of the season.
“Because of the fact that I will have two freshmen starting and I have a guy who had back surgery last year, I think we may be starting off a little slower than normal because we’re getting into competition mode,” Donovan said. “However, at the end of the season, this should end up being one of the best teams we’ve had.”
This weekend’s tournament will be in the high altitude of the Land of Enchantment, but that won’t be anything new for the Aztecs.
“Fortunately, Barona is one of our home courses and that altitude is very similar to what we will be experiencing this weekend,” Donovan said. “We’ll take one practice round but we will take to the affect (of the altitude) immediately.”
