The College of Wooster men's golf team prepped for the upcoming spring slate with a two-week training trip in the southern portion of the country.
Wooster's first stop was Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, where the Fighting Scots had a Saturday afternoon practice at Sea Pines Plantation Resort. Next, Wooster spent March 10 at The Golf Club at Indigo Run, one of the region's signature courses. The two signature features of the course are it being the first signature course co-designed by a father and son team – Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II – and it is the last golf course built on Hilton Head's barrier island.
Next, Wooster prepped for taking in a round of THE PLAYERS Championship by having a practice round at Harbour Town Golf Links, site of the PGA's Royal Bank of Canada Heritage. As one of the nation's most recognized courses, Harbour Town has hosted a PGA Tour event each year since 1969, and the purse is one of the highest non-major ones on Tour. PGA Tour professionals have rated Harbour Town as high as second in a Golf Digest survey of tour courses.
After wrapping up play at Harbour Town, Wooster headed to Atlantic Beach Country Club, a regular stop on the trip. Atlantic Beach sits on the site of the former Selva Marina Country Club, where Nicklaus recorded his first double-eagle in tournament competition during the 1966 Jacksonville Open. The site hosted the first Greater Jacksonville Open, and that tournament eventually became THE PLAYERS Championship. After three days at Atlantic Beach, the team spent March 15 at TPC Sawgrass for the second round of THE PLAYERS Championship.
On March 16, Wooster played the links-style Duran Golf Club, providing the team with a boost for May's North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, which take place on the links-style North Course at Westfield Country Club. Winds from the Atlantic Ocean come into play at Duran, resulting in an up-to three-club wind on approach shots. Focus is paramount at Duran with sweeping doglegs lurking to catch wayward shots.
Next, Wooster returned to Hawk's Nest Course at The Moorings Club, a Jim Fazio-designed course known for an increased emphasis on shot making. Long holes with sand dunes are distinguishing features of the course, which is one of the top-rated along Florida's east coast.
RedStick Golf Club, an exclusive limited-membership private club, and site of alumnus Jimmy Hinton's ace on the par-3, 175-yard No. 17 was where Wooster spent March 18 before starting back north. Next, one of "Jack's courses" placed a premium on strategy and finesse shots for Wooster, with the Scots stopping at the Nicklaus-designed Golden Bear Golf Club, a course regarded as one of "America's Top 100 Courses Priced Under $100" by Travel and Leisure.
Talamore, site of coach Rich Danch's sixth hole-in-one in 2022 was Wooster's second-to-last round of the trip. The course recently switched back to Reed Jones' 1991 design, resulting in larger putting surfaces, more open fairways, limited rough, and the removal of excessive bunkering.
Wooster's final round of the spring trip took place at Old Chatham Golf Club, which hosted the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship. Its claim to fame is serving as the home club of Doc Redman, the 2017 U.S. Amateur Champion who has since made 122 PGA Tour starts where he has two runner-up and six top-five finishes.
Wooster's spring season starts on April 5 at the Bluffton University-Ohio Northern University Spring Invitational. The program's annual Nye Intercollegiate takes place April 13-14 at Wooster Country Club.