Head Coach Jeff Roope is entering his ninth season as the leader of the Toledo men's golf program and has coached a UT golfer to a spot on the All-MAC First Team in each of the last six years. The Rockets begin their season this weekend at Tennessee's Visit Knoxville Collegiate.

Can you talk about the competition to make the lineup each tournament and its impact on the team?

JEFF ROOPE: What I sell to recruits long before they ever get here and put on the Rocket uniform is the idea that I want nine guys who I can pick out of a hat and they're all going to provide the same level of excellence. I want the hardest thing to do for everyone is to make our own five-man lineup. If they've gone through that level of competition and are really getting pushed daily, then as soon as they tee it up at their first event there's going to be a level of ease. They may have a feeling of nervousness, but they're going to feel like they've been here before. I want them thinking that they compete with guys like this every day, so the level of comfort will be above and beyond what they might have been used to.

How many qualifiers do you typically use to set your lineup at the start of the season?

JEFF ROOPE: It always depends on how much time we have before the start of our season. Prior to our tournament at Tennessee, we'll have 54 holes to qualify at two different golf courses. That'll be more than sufficient for this group, because it'll allow the cream to rise to the top. It will allow for the most consistent players to be the ones who qualify over the course of 54 holes. It will be just like any golf tournament. Our goal as a program is to allow our young men to decide their own fate. The best numbers win in golf, and we're going to allow them to show who is playing the best.  It may change over the course of the season because the five guys who are best in September might be completely different from the five guys who are best in April.

Can you just talk about your two seniors, Mads Jensen and Bence Kotel, and what your expectations are for them this season?

JEFF ROOPE: Mads loves the game more than anybody I've ever met. He is totally enamored with everything about golf, and thinks, breathes, and eats golf on a daily basis. What he does on and off the golf course with his dedication to the program is outstanding. He's started to develop that consistency over the last couple of years that allows him to make a real significant contribution. He had an outstanding fall last year, and in the spring he was looking for some pieces. I know that he's working so diligently that he's going to find those pieces.

Bence came here ranked inside the Top 500 of the WAGR rankings and was probably one of the highest ranked players we've had since I've been here. He's an engineering major and needed to figure out how to be excellent at both. He's a great student who's going to get a degree in engineering, but he had to figure out how to still make a significant contribution on the golf course and has done that. His work over the summer has been outstanding. He played a bunch of good events, shot some really good numbers and was in the top 10 at the Ohio Amateur. He's figured it out.

You also have juniors Mason Deal and Marijn Hoogeveen who are returning with some experience from last year. They've had some moments where they played well and trying to find consistency with those two. Where do you see them stand?

JEFF ROOPE: Marijn is one of the most talented people on our roster and for him it's just going to be a matter of consistency.  The shots he can hit and the ability he has are different than others. I've talked about some of our players in the past, about how they can hit shots that other people can't. Marijn is that way as well. It's just a matter of now prioritizing when to hit that shot, when to hit the smart shot, when to play to a scoring position. You can see he's figuring it out every day.

Mason has progressed the furthest by far of any of our players from he came to our program. He was a very talented high school player and now he's a really talented amateur player who's on the verge of doing something special. His performance at the Hoosier Amateur at the end of the year was fantastic, and to qualify for the Porter Cup was amazing.

Can you talk about sophomores Bence Bertenyi and Julius Lange and how you expect them to build off their freshman seasons?

JEFF ROOPE: Bence has world-class aspirations and over the last couple of years has really challenged himself in some of the best amateur events in the world, particularly in Europe. He has been able to make trips to the UK, and he plays on the Hungarian amateur squad. He's a major contributor who really has his sights set on the next level.

Our expectation for Julius last year was that he was a grinder and just sort of a bulldog on the golf course and it proved to be exactly right. When things weren't going right, he still fought his way through everything. Julius is working diligently and understands the principles of his golf swing and how to repeat it over and over. He now can not only rely on his bulldog mentality but understands that he's got all the physical and structural tools to play at the next level. We expect a lot from both Bence and Julius.

How does junior transfer Solomon Petrie fit into the mix after playing the last two seasons for Kentucky?

JEFF ROOPE: We tried to recruit Solomon initially out of Akron so we know how talented he is. He was a two-time All-American at the AJGA level. For him it's just a matter of having the opportunity to show what he could do. He showed it all summer with his second-place finish at the Eastern Amateur. He also was Top 10 at the Ohio Amateur. He has that kind of talent. I would expect he could make an immediate contribution to the program, but at the same time I have eight guys who want to be in the same shoes that he wants to be in.

Can you talk about your two highly-regarded incoming freshmen Braden Herstich and Rasmus Gross?

JEFF ROOPE: Braden was part of the USGA developmental squad in Ohio. It's one of the new development programs the USGA is putting together a develop for their young squads to be able to compete internationally. For him to be part of that program was amazing. Braden was the Ohio junior champion, qualified for U.S. Open sectionals, and qualified for the U.S. juniors.  Braden's resume is really good. Like any young player, it'll be a matter of consistency. He can make enough birdies. It's just a matter of what do you do outside of those birdies.  

Rasmus is 6-foot-4 and hits it a country mile. He plays big events and shoots low numbers. He comes from the Swedish golf program which has produced the Ludwig Abergs of the world and some other really good players. His genetics and the national development squads really bode well for him.