As the men’s golf team prepares for the NCAA regionals in two weeks, junior Heath West also looks forward to what he will be doing in two months to improve his game.
Two years ago, West finished with one of the best freshman seasons in school history, becoming the first freshman Tiger to make an All-SEC team since 1984. West posted the lowest team-stroke average in his first season and had the most top-20 finishes on the team with six.
West had five top-20 finishes and two top-10 finishes in his sophomore season, but did not make an All-SEC team.
West’s game seemingly has come back from where he started in his third year, after the SEC office announced West a member of the 2004 All-SEC men’s second team.
Men’s coach Greg Jones said West has improved each year, despite his results.
“It’s one of those things where he may have to take a step back to move forward,” Jones said.
Jones said he is helping tinker West’s short-game mechanics as well as his approach in tournaments, which have caused a period of adjustment for West. Jones is confident West will show drastic improvement next season.
“I think next year we’ll see the improvement,” Jones said. “He could be the player of the year. Freshman year he was raw, he was a very strong hitter, but he was very brassy with his decisions. We’ve helped him improve his decisions and his short game.”
Jones said West can improve by a lot with a little tinkering of his game.
“The difference is one stroke per round,” Jones said. “Probably the fastest way to get him there is by improving his short game. Swinging and striking the ball, he’s as good as anybody. He just needs to work on his short game a little bit, with his putting and chipping.”
While West said he is not disappointed with the second-team selection, he said was good enough to make the first team.
“I basically just didn’t play well enough,” West said. “I played well, but just not well enough.”
West is expecting a breakout senior season.
“Of course, I expect it every year because I’m capable of it every year,” West said. “I’m definitely expecting first-team and All-American honors.”
Jones said coaches have expected big things to come from West since he was a high school golfer.
“We weren’t the only ones that wanted Heath,” Jones said. “[SEC coaches] all saw it. He also probably feels as if he’s one of the best. This was something he did as a freshman. Heath is so talented. He saw that in order to get to the next level he saw things that would need to get changed.”
West said winning the award in different seasons caused different experiences.
“It was hard to say because when I was a freshman and new to the league I was all excited,” West said. “It’s a different feeling in my junior year. It’s more fun now because I know what I’m doing now on the golf course.”