Time for a breath of fresh air — through the fabric of a mask, of course. 

After almost a full year without any competition, Chapman athletics is making its return, as the golf team will kick off their season in a regional tournament Feb. 26 through Feb. 28 at Olivas Links in Ventura, California. Only three universities in Chapman’s conference, the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), will be participating in the upcoming season: the University of Redlands, California Lutheran University and Chapman University. The rest have elected to cancel their seasons.

Even with the lack of varied competition, Ming Lao, head coach of men’s golf, explained the NCAA will still count this season as normal despite abnormal circumstances. 

“(The NCAA) has made allowances to count this as a season, even though all (the SCIAC) teams aren't participating, because we're not the only conference that has this issue,” Lao said. “So what that means is we can qualify for national championships … It's good for us. It's great for us.”

Changes in the number of teams competing comes with changes to scheduling. Due to specific COVID-19 protocols, Chapman does not allow teams to travel out of state, which means golf will be limited to tournaments in Southern California. Additionally, Chapman can’t take part in any matches with schools that don’t practice its same precautions. 

Chapman began practicing Feb. 15 at Tustin Ranch Golf Club. Lao said even with consistent practices, there will still be an adjustment period for the team.

“Our sport is probably the (least affected by COVID-19) out of all the sports. But that hidden variable of competition is unknown,” Lao said. “I don't know how they're going to handle the stress physically ... and hitting is only part of the game. Competing is the thing that they haven't been able to do in this whole lockdown.”

Golf, by nature, is a socially distant sport. So even during the pandemic, players were still able to practice and communicate with their teammates. Joaquin Cortes, a senior business administration major, walked onto the golf team in the fall with little concern about staying ready for the season. The only issue he faced was not being able to train at Tustin Ranch. 

Similarly, Avani Tumuluri, a sophomore biology major and member of the team, said it’s been difficult at times to practice consistently due to growth in the popularity of the sport during the pandemic.

“So many people want to do something and now, golf, they see how individualistic it is … I'm happy that so many people want to play, but I'm also frustrated because I really need to play,” she said. “The busy (nature) of the sport has really picked up, but that makes it less available for me.”

In addition to the physical adjustment, players will have to recalibrate their mentalities. Tumuluri is anxious about that aspect of returning to play and plans on working to improve her “mental game.” However, players are simply excited to have the chance to compete on a pitch once again.

“I am looking forward to having a good tournament; I'm going to keep positive,” Tumuluri said. “I hope that I play (well) and I'm able to just honestly be on the grass and outside.”