Pomeroy golfers pumped to host first-ever home tournament

Home sweet home.

Golfers, like many athletes, are creatures of habit. The chance to wake up in your own bed, rather than an unfamiliar hotel room, and head to the golf course for a tournament is a nice comfort.

The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods women's and men's golf teams are looking forward to that, as well as the chance to compete at a course many of them have extensive experience playing at this weekend's Woods Invite at Idle Creek Golf Course. Golfers will begin to tee off at 11 a.m. Friday and at 9 a.m. for Saturday's final round. Teams set to compete are Hanover's women, Defiance, Oakland City's men and women, Danville Area Community College women, Indiana University Kokomo women and the Lincoln Trail Community College men's team.

Both Pomeroys' teams feature a strong contingent of Wabash Valley natives who have played Idle Creek many, many times.

"I've played this course competitively since I was seven years old so that's 15 years now," said senior Andrew Granda, who played in high school for Terre Haute North. "I really like the course. I've played it a bunch of times over the summer. Getting off the tee is what you really have to do out here. Just hitting lots of fairways and laying up on certain holes is really what's going to get it done."

SMWC freshman Brooklee Bussing, the Pomeroys' No. 1 golfer, looks forward to competing at Idle Creek.

"We're all going to have home-course advantage. We've seen the course, we know what to expect. We know how it's going to play. We're definitely going to have friends and family here. It's going to be a good day," Bussing said.

The Pomeroys also get to play their entire roster in the tournament, whereas most tournaments the travel group is typically five to six golfers.

Freshman Mallorie Morgan, who played locally at South Vermillion, looks forward to seeing her entire team on the course competing.

"It means everything to play with my entire team," Morgan said. "It's like a little family away from home even though I am literally right in my backyard. It gives us different outlooks on how we can play and play things for the better."

Justin Hopkins of Clay City looks forward to continuing his solid start to the season.

"I used to play in all the junior golf tournaments around here and this was the course everyone came to for tournaments. It's always well-kept, this one and Hulman (Links)," Hopkins said. "I'm playing all right. We've been playing hard, my grandpa's got a simulator and we've been going over there and playing a lot through the off-season."

Karson Hart, a Terre Haute North graduate, said it's a relaxing place to play in the Idle Creek community with the residents around the course often interacting with the SMWC golfers.

"I like how it's scenic. It's real pretty out here. The people who live out here are really nice. When it's nice out, the people here sit outside and talk to you," Hart said.

Chase Nuckols, a Brazil, Ind., native, looks forward to the conveniences as well.

"It's going to be convenient to have a home-cooked meal. Those road nights get tough on the body. I'm looking forward to it," said Nuckols. "It's pretty scoreable. You have to hit some good tee shots. If you put your tee shots in the right place, you can definitely go low here."

Nuckols is looking to build off a career-best round of 73 in Nashville.

"Going into college, there was a lot of changes I had to make. I had to tweak some fundamental stuff in my swing. It was good to see it pay off in Nashville with a good round," Nuckols said.

Other local players set to compete are Shea Andrews (West Vigo), Landon Thome (West Vigo), Brevin Cooper (Northview/Brazil, Ind.) and Sophie Boyll (Terre Haute South).