My name is Joe Daly, and I'm a senior at Saint John's University.  No, not Saint John's in New York!  Our Saint John's is located in central Minnesota, roughly an hour and fifteen minutes North/Northwest from Minneapolis.  Along with my teammate Joe Schoolmeesters, I am excited to share this blog with you all!  

We are from a small, private, Catholic institution with about 4,000 students if you include our sister school, the College of Saint Benedict, five miles down the road.  We are an all male University, while Saint Ben's is an all female College.  However, the only things that are truly all guys/girls are the Residential Life programs and the Athletic Departments.  We take classes together on both campuses, eat together, study together, hang out together...pretty much everything is Co-ed except Res. Life and athletics.  But enough about our school, check it out online if you want more information (www.csbsju.edu).  Let's talk some golf!

The last three and a half years have gone so fast they are a blur, but there are a few things that do stand out.  Winning the National Tournament the last two years has been more than I ever dreamed of.  Sure winning the big one was the goal when I first came to SJU, but who knew that a small school from Minnesota, yes Minnesota, could win a couple golf championships?  We have been through a lot in my tenure here, both good and bad, but overall it has been one great ride.  However, we have not, and we will not live in the past; a new season is here and we are hungrier than ever.

The beginning of the spring golf season in Minnesota truly tests our patience.  As you might have guessed, it's still a little early for us to be playing golf in Minnesota.  As we see the thermometer break 50 degrees a few times we think, "I could be playing golf right now."  But then reality sinks in when you stop daydreaming and see a foot of snow on the ground.  As of today, there isn't too much snow left, but history has taught me not to get too excited yet.  Last year we had a snow storm the second week of April that put 12 inches on the ground...it's only March 19th!  Who knows, maybe the golf gods will cut us some slack this year and the courses will open early...I'm definitely not getting my hopes up though. 

We have been having indoor practice for a few weeks now.  We hit into baseball nets off of mats in our indoor track facility.  It's nothing glamorous, but try living in Minnesota for a winter and you will understand how awesome hitting into a net that's 10 feet away can be.  Roughly half of our team (16 guys) traveled south over our spring break (Feb 27 - March 8) to play some golf.  Six of us drove to Port St. Lucie, Florida, to see the courses for the National Tournament this year, and one of our other guys traveled to Arizona to stay and play with some alums.  It was great to get out and play on grass, but having a spring break that early only means we come home and get to hit indoors that much longer.

Other than anxiously waiting to start practicing outside, we are all consumed by March Madness, and now that Tiger is back, we are actually watching golf on t.v. again.  

That's all I've got for now.  I've got to go fulfill the "student" part of my "student athlete" title.  I hope everyone out there is getting ready for the spring season that lies ahead; it's going to be a great one.     

Keep your head down.

Joe Daly