Butler freshman golfer Andrew Eiler picked up the sport of golf at a young age.

Based on his first semester of collegiate golf, the Bulldogs should consider themselves lucky he did.

“Andrew is the hardest worker in the world,” junior teammate Matt Vitale said. “He meshed well with this team.”

Photo by Rachel Anderson

Eiler walked on to the team prior to the start of the fall season.

At his first collegiate event, the Green Bay Invitational in mid-September, he had the second-best score on the team and tied for eighth place in the tournament.

He shot a 73 on the first day of the event and went on to finish a stroke behind Butler’s top finisher, junior Andrew Wegeng.

Eiler held his own through the rest of the fall season, participating as one of Butler’s five scoring individuals in the team’s other four events.

In two of those four matches, he was again one of Butler’s top three finishers.

Like many athletes, the Culver native got his start in his sport of choice through family ties.

When his older brother first started playing in tournaments, a four-year-old Eiler was alongside him, either watching his brother play or hitting the practice greens.

When practicing, he would chip and putt for an hour or two while his brother played.

Eiler said it was not until the sixth grade that he became serious about pursuing golf.

“[In sixth grade] I found my current swing coach and took lessons about once a week,” Eiler said. “The longest amount of time I went without a lesson was two weeks.”

Eiler said his time at Culver Academy helped to prepare him for both playing golf at a higher level and college life.

“Time management was a key skill I picked up at Culver,” Eiler said. “It made the transition to college life much easier.”

Eiler said motivation is not a worry for him either.

“Hitting a bad shot is enough motivation to keep working hard to improve as hitting a good shot is,” Eiler said.

Eiler described his time spent during most summers as “practically living at the golf course.” He said he goes to the course or driving range to clear his head.

Butler coaches and players have only heaped praise upon Eiler and his play so far this season.

One of Butler’s other freshman golfers, Logan Holt, echoed Vitale’s thoughts on Eiler’s work ethic, adding that the two share somewhat of a rivalry both on and off the course.

“Our matches get pretty intense, and we always have pretty epic battles on the links,” Holt said. “[I beat him] in NBA2K12 every weekend, and those games get almost as heated as the golf matches.”

Coach Bill Mattingly used the terms “resilient” and “competitor” to describe Eiler.

“On the course, he is very calm and able to bounce back from a bad hole,” Mattingly said.

The Bulldogs will likely need Eiler to put those qualities on display when the team heads to Florida during spring break.

Butler will compete in three separate events during the trip.

First the Bulldogs will take on Evansville and Cleveland State in a dual meet.

After that, Butler will compete in the Benbow and Butler Invitationals.

During the same trip last season, Butler was led by now-graduated Ryan Wegeng and finished second of two teams, ninth of 11 teams and fourth of four teams in the three events.

The Butler men’s tennis team fell just shy of earning its second victory of the season this weekend.

On Friday, the Bulldogs traveled to Dayton, where they suffered a close 4-3 loss.

Dropping the doubles point proved to be crucial for the Bulldogs (1-13).

Butler players that came away victorious in the singles play were senior Zach Ervin and freshmen Tommy Marx and Billy Weldon.

The match came down to No. 1 singles play, where Butler freshman Austin Woldmoe fell short.

On Saturday, the team went to Bloomington to face the No. 29 Indiana Hoosiers (9-3).

The Bulldogs fell 7-0 in their sixth match against a ranked opponent this season.

Butler will begin conference play on March 24, taking on Valparaiso and Illinois-Chicago the weekend after spring break.

It is that time of the year again.

No, not the wildly popular basketball spectacle that is March Madness. Rather, now is the return of a sport after a long hiatus—golf.

The golf season is split into two separate sections—one for the fall semester and one for the spring. But in between those seasons is a long break.

During that break—since the sport is technically not considered in-season—the athletes are limited to eight hours of organized practice per week. That includes activities such as working out and hitting the driving range.

It is officially time for the Butler men’s and women’s golf teams to start playing again, though.

The squads have a variety of goals and expectations as their spring season gets underway.

MEN’S TEAM

The Butler men’s golf team is looking to rebound in the upcoming spring season after a disappointing finish to the fall season.

Collegian file photo

While the team won its first tournament of the season at Green Bay and finished second in the Butler Fall Invitational, the Bulldogs placed ninth, 12th and 13th in their other three fall events.

According to coach Bill Mattingly, it all starts with trying to improve as a team.

“The conference is wide open this year,” Mattingly said. “With the guys we have, there is a good chance we could win.”

Players said they feel they have what it takes to make the ascension to champions of the Horizon League.

Junior Matt Vitale said that unity has been important for Butler.

“I think the biggest thing that it comes down to is that we all like each other and everyone enjoys the game of golf,” Vitale said.

Vitale was a walk-on to the team last year. Initially, he said he felt like he had to prove himself to show he belonged, but he does not feel the same way now.

The feeling of togetherness within the team does not stop there, though.

“The juniors and seniors have been really welcoming,” freshman Andrew Eiler said. “They have been a lot of help in transitioning from high school to college golf.”

Mattingly said Eiler is the youngest major contributor to the team.

“He came in, won his spot on the team and never gave it away,” Mattingly said.

Players say they revel in the chance to have workouts with their teammates—even if they come at 6 a.m.—as it is another opportunity to be pushed to work that much harder.

Senior Alex Walker has been on the team long enough to know the ins and outs of not only the sport but the balance of college life as well.

Walker said the preparation involved to get physically and mentally ready for the spring season should constantly be stressed, and he hopes to help players learn how to get better in order to win the conference tournament.

The Bulldogs open their spring season in Florida against Evansville and Cleveland State on March 10.

After that, the team has seven events between March 10 and April 29. Six of these are multi-day contests, three of which will take place in Florida.

WOMEN’S TEAM

The women had a successful fall season, winning three out of five invitationals.

Mattingly said he knows the transition from one season to the next can be difficult at first.

“The first few tournaments will be rough,” Mattingly said.

Players said they know this as well.

The time off is one major disadvantage of playing golf in the northern half of the country.

Collegian file photo

Thanks to weather, teams in the North are not able to practice and play on courses during their own free time like the teams in the South are.

This creates a huge disadvantage for teams like Butler, but shaking off the rust is essential if the Bulldogs plan to build on their success in the fall season.

“It’s definitely going to be difficult since [the USA Women’s Invitational] is our first tournament in a few months,” senior Michele Nash said. “Mentally, you have to prepare yourself for the spring season and expect to shoot your best scores.”

Nash is coming off a fall season in which she recorded two first-place finishes, a runner-up showing and two fifth-place finishes.

In addition to the strong play from Nash, two freshmen also contributed to the success the team had in the fall.

Both Isabella Lambert and Jenna Peters had a top-three finish at one tournament in the fall.

Mattingly heaped praises upon them and said he expects them to be “stronger, smarter and a little more poised” after having one semester of experience under their belts.

According to Peters, the Bulldogs are not merely looking to improve, though.

“I would really like to go to the NCAA tournament,” Peters said.

Mattingly said he believes an NCAA tournament appearance is possible and has gotten the players to buy into it, too.

Butler was tabbed to win the Horizon League in a preseason poll by Golfweek magazine, and the Bulldogs said they fully plan to come out firing with a strong showing in Mobile, Ala.

That is where the USA Women’s Invitational was held yesterday and today.

Nash finished in a three-way tie for fifth place at the event, leading the Bulldogs to a runner-up showing.

Lambert had the second-best showing of all Butler players, finishing in eighth.

Butler finished two strokes behind host South Alabama in the 13-team event.

The women will now compete in the same seven events as their male counterparts between March 10 and April 29.