The time is finally here for the 2012-2013 golf season and things are looking bright for a young Warhawk squad looking to claim their first Sunbelt team championship in school history.

The Warhawks will be returning six players from last year’s team but most are still inexperienced in tournament play.

“Winning the Sunbelt is always the goal, but I’d be very happy finishing in the top three of our conference with such a young team,” said head coach Eric Hsu.

With a roster consisting of only three seniors, developing confidence in the young players is a key goal for this season.

“We really want our young guys to gain some more experience in real pressure situations, some of them just played their first college tournament last weekend,” said former Warhawk standout and now assistant coach Nick Wilson.

While returning starters Adam McCleary and Mason Seaborn lead the charge into the upcoming season, some freshmen have already made an impact.

In last weekend’s Sam Hall Intercollegiate tournament at the Hattiesburg Country Club in Hattiesburg Miss, freshman Velton Meyer was the only player to compete individually for the Warhawks. He finished 74th overall, shooting 15 over for the tournament.

“He showed a lot of promise finishing strong last weekend and it is something we hope he will build on going further into the season,” said Wilson.

The team finished in 12th place at the Sam Hall intercollegiate, edging out conference rivals Arkansas State by three points. Junior McCleary and sophomore Seaborn shot team lows of five over for the tournament.

Though it was the first tournament of the season for the Warhakws, it was not the first time Seaborn has competed recently.

This summer Seaborn qualified for the 112th annual U.S Golf Association Armature Championship, being the first Warhawks golfer to do so in the last six years. Seaborn missed the cut going into the weekend posting a score of eight over but still took the tournament as a great learning experience.

“I learned a lot at that tournament, and it was a great experience to get to play against some of the best golfers in the country,” said Seaborn.

The Warhawks travel to McNeese this weekend to play in the Moe O’Brien Intercollegiate tournament, where a young Warhawk team hopes to start building towards the future with a win.