Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Jegers' quick rise not surprising for McEntire
5/9/2021 6:00:00 PM | Men's Golf, BRAA
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — With a young roster, it was almost a guarantee that a freshman was going to have to step up if Middle Tennessee was going to win its third straight Conference USA men's golf title.
The Blue Raiders actually had two first-years shine in the spotlight at the C-USA Championship April 26-29, helping them to a third straight crown. One of those freshmen, while obviously ultra-talented, was quite a surprise this spring considering where he was less than six months ago.
Kevin Jegers didn't have the chance to ease into the college game during the fall. The Estonia native didn't even get to America until the start of spring. But, despite being in a new country with a new team, he was one of the best players on the roster all spring, and he saved his best for the conference tournament.
"In 20 years that I've been doing this, I've been around a lot of good players," head coach Mark McEntire said. "Kevin is special. I think he's done a tremendous job of handling the elements here. … He takes advantage of our resources and wants to get better."
Jegers is one of two players MT has nabbed from Estonia, a small country in Northern Europe across the Gulf of Finland from Finland, and the third from Finland's Season Golf Academy. They also had Finnish-born Ilari Saulo, who ended his Blue Raider career in the shortened 2020 season.
Mattias Varjun, a freshman on last year's team whose season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, chose to stay in Estonia this year and will come back to compete with the team next season along with his brother, Markus.
Jegers and the Varjuns are close, so it was no surprise they all wanted to go to the same college in America. Not having the brothers join him this season was tough at first, but Jegers quickly acclimated and got close with his teammates. He really had no choice, considering he doesn't have an American cell phone number so he's had to use apps to communicate with the team and McEntire to avoid outrageous phone bills.
"I was jet-lagged the first like two weeks, and it was horrible. I went to bed at like 6 p.m. and woke up at like 2 a.m. ready to go," Jegers said. "I have awesome teammates, and they made my life a lot easier."
Estonia isn't exactly a golfer's paradise year-round, with a long winter that makes it impossible to play for about half the year. When Jegers arrived on campus, he hadn't hit a ball in months due to the cold, and he quickly had to get into a groove.
He finished 6-over and tied for 41st in the team's first tournament of the spring, then rebounded with an even 216 to finish tied for 16th in the next.
The next three tournaments, Jegers really found his rhythm, finishing second on the team at the Linger Longer Invitational then leading the Blue Raiders at the Schenkel Invitational and Irish Creek Invitational with a pair of top-15 finishes.
He was riding high heading into the C-USA Championships, but then was humbled.
In the first round at Texarkana Country Club in Texarkana, Arkansas, Jegers struggled to a 4-over 76, good enough for a tie for 43rd place and well off the lead. It looked like the freshman's luck was running out.
A buzz cut bet the night after the first round made between Jegers and teammate Michael Barnard seemed to do the trick. Jegers improved 36 spots during the second round with a tournament-best 7-under 65, the best round any Blue Raider has played this season.
He finished the final round with a 3-under 69 before winning both of his matches in match play, helping the team claim victory. He was second for MT, one shot back of graduate student Tanner Owens and five ahead of fellow freshman Owen Stamper, who tied for 13th.
"That was pretty awesome," Jegers said. "To win conference in my first semester, that felt pretty nice."
Jegers was named to the All-C-USA third team and the all-freshman team after the tournament.
He's currently second on the team this spring with a 72.2 stroke average, trailing only graduate student Connor McKay (71.9), as they look towards the NCAA Stillwater Regional at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Oklahoma.
While it might be a surprise to some to see Jegers doing so well in his first semester, McEntire doesn't view it like that.
"The thing that I admire the most about him is his temperament is the same," the head coach said. "You can't tell if he's 7-under or 4-over — I haven't seen him over four — but when he was 7-under-par, it was the same routine, same motion as when he was 4-over. … Once he steps into the process, it's as good as I've ever seen."
With that calm resolve, there's no reason to think Jegers will slow down at the Regional. He sure has impressed the Blue Raiders so far.
The Blue Raiders actually had two first-years shine in the spotlight at the C-USA Championship April 26-29, helping them to a third straight crown. One of those freshmen, while obviously ultra-talented, was quite a surprise this spring considering where he was less than six months ago.
Kevin Jegers didn't have the chance to ease into the college game during the fall. The Estonia native didn't even get to America until the start of spring. But, despite being in a new country with a new team, he was one of the best players on the roster all spring, and he saved his best for the conference tournament.
"In 20 years that I've been doing this, I've been around a lot of good players," head coach Mark McEntire said. "Kevin is special. I think he's done a tremendous job of handling the elements here. … He takes advantage of our resources and wants to get better."
Jegers is one of two players MT has nabbed from Estonia, a small country in Northern Europe across the Gulf of Finland from Finland, and the third from Finland's Season Golf Academy. They also had Finnish-born Ilari Saulo, who ended his Blue Raider career in the shortened 2020 season.
Mattias Varjun, a freshman on last year's team whose season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, chose to stay in Estonia this year and will come back to compete with the team next season along with his brother, Markus.
Jegers and the Varjuns are close, so it was no surprise they all wanted to go to the same college in America. Not having the brothers join him this season was tough at first, but Jegers quickly acclimated and got close with his teammates. He really had no choice, considering he doesn't have an American cell phone number so he's had to use apps to communicate with the team and McEntire to avoid outrageous phone bills.
"I was jet-lagged the first like two weeks, and it was horrible. I went to bed at like 6 p.m. and woke up at like 2 a.m. ready to go," Jegers said. "I have awesome teammates, and they made my life a lot easier."
Estonia isn't exactly a golfer's paradise year-round, with a long winter that makes it impossible to play for about half the year. When Jegers arrived on campus, he hadn't hit a ball in months due to the cold, and he quickly had to get into a groove.
He finished 6-over and tied for 41st in the team's first tournament of the spring, then rebounded with an even 216 to finish tied for 16th in the next.
The next three tournaments, Jegers really found his rhythm, finishing second on the team at the Linger Longer Invitational then leading the Blue Raiders at the Schenkel Invitational and Irish Creek Invitational with a pair of top-15 finishes.
He was riding high heading into the C-USA Championships, but then was humbled.
In the first round at Texarkana Country Club in Texarkana, Arkansas, Jegers struggled to a 4-over 76, good enough for a tie for 43rd place and well off the lead. It looked like the freshman's luck was running out.
A buzz cut bet the night after the first round made between Jegers and teammate Michael Barnard seemed to do the trick. Jegers improved 36 spots during the second round with a tournament-best 7-under 65, the best round any Blue Raider has played this season.
He finished the final round with a 3-under 69 before winning both of his matches in match play, helping the team claim victory. He was second for MT, one shot back of graduate student Tanner Owens and five ahead of fellow freshman Owen Stamper, who tied for 13th.
"That was pretty awesome," Jegers said. "To win conference in my first semester, that felt pretty nice."
Jegers was named to the All-C-USA third team and the all-freshman team after the tournament.
He's currently second on the team this spring with a 72.2 stroke average, trailing only graduate student Connor McKay (71.9), as they look towards the NCAA Stillwater Regional at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Oklahoma.
While it might be a surprise to some to see Jegers doing so well in his first semester, McEntire doesn't view it like that.
"The thing that I admire the most about him is his temperament is the same," the head coach said. "You can't tell if he's 7-under or 4-over — I haven't seen him over four — but when he was 7-under-par, it was the same routine, same motion as when he was 4-over. … Once he steps into the process, it's as good as I've ever seen."
With that calm resolve, there's no reason to think Jegers will slow down at the Regional. He sure has impressed the Blue Raiders so far.
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