Men's golf takes center stage

The blog now officially shifts its focus to the 2014 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships. Today was the practice round for the Pirates, and one thing is very clear - the Meadows Golf Course in Allendale, Mich., is a championship-level course for sure. When Barry won the title here in 2007, the Bucs did so with a +50 team score, and no player broke par over the course of the tournament.

And that was under ideal conditions.

This year, it will be 15+ MPH winds the entire three days before we get to the cut and the match play. And the rough is .. well, rough. You can get a glimpse of that in coach Michael Butler's video here.  Par is going to be a VERY good score on this course and if you do not hit shots in the fairway, you will struggle.

Read the preview of the Pirates heading into the tournament here. Armstrong tees off at Noon on Monday, then will tee off at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

A couple of housecleaning notes as well. Here is NCAA.com writer Denise Maloof's story on the Armstrong tennis senior parents who traveled from all over the world to come to Altamonte Springs for the tennis championships this year. Even though the results were tough, the support from the Armstrong families and friends was tremendous all week long.

Also, Armstrong softball knows who it is playing in the NCAA DII Softball Championships - West Chester will be the Pirates' first opponent, and the first game of the championships, on Thursday at Noon in Salem, Va.

Go Pirates !