ETSU men's golf carrying extra motivation into cross country trip for shot at NCAA title

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WCYB) — After a thrilling few days in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where ETSU men's golf made it through the NCAA Regional for the fourth straight season, the Bucs have made it back home - now preparing to make noise in the NCAA Championship.

The Bucs dominated Round two of the Chapel Hill Regional, setting themselves for an easy ride past the rest of the field - marking yet another successful trip for the program.

Yet, after walking away with Carolina with their ticket punched to Carlsbad, it was a bitter taste in their mouths after letting their three day lead slip to Clemson down the final stretch - ending with a second place finish.

"We went in there with the idea that not making the top five wasn't even an option. When you're sleeping on a lead, you're thinking about a lot and you want to win. That was our goal," said head coach, Jake Amos. "Unfortunately, we didn't get it done, but it could be the best thing that happened to us, honestly."

After soaking it in for a few days, the mindset across the board for the whole team has a similar ring to it: get past it and move on with the higher goal in sight.

Although the Bucs fell short of a Regional title, at the end of the day, the goal was to advance - and a second place finish was not something to hang their head about. Especially now, giving the team some extra fuel to head to the west coast with.

"It hurts to not win, especially just leading the whole way. But I think going into nationals, it's better that this happened than us winning," said No. 1 Mats Ege. "You learn more from your losses and failures than you do from just winning. I think if you win, you come back here and might not work as hard."

The Bucs have a a few days to recoup and hit the links before they will travel to Carlsbad, Calif. for the NCAA Championships, beginning on May. 24.