Titan men's golf team to play Florida Tech in Ryder Cup style event

The Eastern Florida State College men's golf team will try and keep the Collegiate Players Cup this weekend at Duran Golf Club.

The Titans face Florida Tech in the sixth annual event that is set up like the Ryder Cup. Teams will open on Saturday morning with four matches of foursomes that each team will have two players and take alternate shots with the same ball. Then in the afternoon they will play a fourball match in which each player will play his own ball with the best score of the two in each team counting for the team.

Then on Sunday it will be nine head-to-head singles match between the two teams.

"It's one that players from both teams have embraced over the past five years," Eastern Florida State College men's golf coach Jamie Howell said. "

Eastern Florida State College has had the trophy the past two seasons, winning it two years ago and halved the event last year and Brad Bawden is looking forward to keeping it there.

"It's that rivalry. When we play at Duran Golf Club we see the Florida Tech players out there, the rest of the year you want to go there knowing that you beat them," Bawden said. "We want to keep the Cup. We just have to go out there and try to bring home the trophy."

Bawden will be teamed with sophomore Michael Stewart this weekend and the two have spent the week playing together and getting ready for the weekend.

"You get a really good vibe going into something like this because you are playing for everyone. In golf you are usually playing by yourself, but in match play you are playing for everyone so you really have to go out and grind to do the best you can," Bawden said.

Bawden has been playing well this fall, winning the individual title at the Wallace State Fall Invitational and placing third in the NJCAA District 4 Preview.

"My game is feeling good, it has been feeling good for most of the year really. The ball is starting to go in the hole which is nice. Starting to whole some putts," Bawden said. "I just have to keep working hard and trying to get better."