Matt Rau, senior, marketing preparing to tee-off.

At the age of six Matt Rau was waking up at 4:30 a.m. so he and his father could be on the first tee at Tamarack Golf Course in Shiloh, Illinois by 6 a.m. Rau, senior, Marketing major, is still hitting the links nearly every day – but now at a more reasonable hour.

Rau was the only member of the University of Missouri-St. Louis men’s golf team to make it to the NCAA Division II Super Regional last season. He was also one of four players in the entire region to make it to that level as an individual. This coming season Rau hopes the Tritons will qualify as a team.

After transferring to UM-St. Louis from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Rau has been the stand out player on the golf team that has been improving. The team took eighth place at last season’s Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, but Rau will not take all the credit. He says that Ryan Penfield, senior, Business Administration major, and Tim Cochran, senior, Political Science major, are just as good as he is and with a handicap of “plus one-point-something.” They also have the ability to routinely drive 315 or more yards off the tee. But Rau’s statistics tell a different story.

“Anybody who watches my game would say I hit the ball pretty well,” Rau said, though conceding, “I need to work on my short game.”

For the 22-year-old Rau, his solid swing did not happen overnight. It took about a decade and a half. He played with his father, Chris, all through grade school before playing for four years at St. Mary’s High School. His high school career culminated with a seventh place finish at the Missouri Class 4A State Championships. His favorite course is Old Warson Country Club, where he also just happens to work.

“I think next summer I’ll probably turn pro,” Rau said. “I’ll probably work at the country club still and play in some professional tournaments here and there. I play in all the amateur tournaments around St. Louis, and that’s a good level of competition.”

Rau’s first season as a Triton was also Troy Halterman’s first as head coach. Halterman has brought a level of organization to the team that did not exist before his arrival. This season he has added a weight training regiment to the team’s practice schedule. Over the summer Halterman has also recruited four freshmen and transfer players. According to Rau, all signs point to a continuation of the steady improvement that has defined the men’s golf program the last few years.

“When I first got here the team was just kind of guys coming in and not being competitive, and we weren’t recruiting guys to be competitive either,” Rau said, “but since Troy took over last year as head coach, the program has done a 180. All the recruits are going to be competitive and push myself, Tim, and Ryan to play better golf.”