Written By: Travis Richardson | @travis_richson
It's been more than two years since the Florida State club golf team was formed. The Seminoles were started by Patrick Barnes, and helped establish the Florida Region. Barnes served as the region's inaugural Regional Coordinator. Two years later, the club will be making their NCCGA Nationals debut this weekend at The Resort at Glade Springs.
The club started as exclusively PGM students. However, the PGM program was discontinued at FSU last year, and the club has been transitioning to more inclusive of all students on campus. Current Club President Brian Eidelbus credits this change to the team's recent success.
"When you think about it, we have 40,000 undergraduates at the school," Eidelbus said. "How many high level golfers make the decision after high school to attend Florida State, instead of a smaller school for golf."
Eidelbus himself is a former varsity golfer. He started his college career at Bentley University in Massachusetts. The cold temperature caused a transfer to UCF, and then eventually Florida State. He visited a friend at Florida State and instantly fell in love with the campus.
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The team is still self-funded, which can present a challenge for the team members. The split of the Florida Region into a North and South has helped the team significantly reduce travel costs. The first tournament of the North Florida Region took place in Tallahassee.
Despite finishing in third place at both regional tournaments, the Seminoles are ranked #7 entering Nationals. A big sign on just how difficult the region is, which also features the #1 and #2 teams in the nation. Despite this being their first time at Nationals, Eidelbus is confident in the team's talent.
"It is our first trip to Nationals, but I know we have a lot of talent on our team, more so than we have ever had in the past," said Eidelbus. "I would say that even though this is our first nationals, we know how to play well, we know we can compete when it comes to the big stage, all of our players have been doing it for a long time."