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TS: Hello we�re here with Jon Cohen and he is a Grinnell College men�s golfer. He
recently came off a fourth place finish at the Midwest Conference Championships, congratulations.
The first day kind of set the tone for you, you had a 76 I believe, which was 5 strokes
better than your season best to that point. What was going right that day?
JC: I was in a good space mentally. I found something in my swing that morning on the
range. Mostly I knew that I had it in me, and I had saved the best for last and I knew
I still had it.
TS: Now the interesting thing is you did that in less than ideal conditions. Talk about
the weather conditions up there in Rockford on the first day.
JC: No one was really hoping for bad weather, but if someone was close to that it was me.
I knew that I wasn�t the most talented golfer out there, and weather�s the ultimate equalizer.
I just tried to embrace being wet, embrace being cold, and just try to out-tough some
people who are more talented than I.
TS: You were actually tied for the lead at that point too if I�m not mistaken.
JC: Right. After the first round, which ended on day two, I was tied for the lead. Which
I told myself was exactly how I started the tournament. I didn�t want to psych myself
out.
TS: Well the great thing is you were able to continue that into the second round. How
tough is that mentally after a first round as far as maintaining that, or is that just
a big advantage having golfed so well?
JC: Day two was just miserable weather-wise. It was rained-short and we only got 9 holes
in. Tee times got pushed back a couple different times. It was a bit of a mess to try to focus.
I got off to a terrible start, but a pitch-in from about 50 yards off on number 6 for birdie
really got me going. It helped me refocus and I was able to pull through with a decent
round.
TS: You were able to also in the third round continue golfing well. As we said you placed
fourth in a very talented field. What was your feeling after that?
JC: It was great. I had a number a lot lower than 81 if I thought I wanted to win it. Going
in to the week my goal was to be all-conference, to be in the top ten. And fourth is great,
I�m really happy with that.
TS: And that�s obviously the best finish for a Grinnell golfer since Pete, one of the
best golfers in school history, when he did that back in 2009. What does that mean to
be in that company?
JC: Oh it�s great. Peter Marsho, who graduated last year, is a far more talented golfer than
I�ll ever be. He I guess never did this, I would have assumed he had. Pete, I�ve
played with him before also, a really great golfer. It�s really cool to be in company
with those guys.
TS: Talk a little bit, we had talked off-camera a bit, about really wanting to send our senior
leader out on a good note too with a high team finish. Talk about that.
JC: Yeah, Ian Luby, we all call him Bison. One of our goals going into the season was
to not finish fifth and to beat Knox. We knew we had to play well to do that. He and I both
played very well. He finished eleventh, just outside of the top ten. We were really happy
to send Bison off with his best finish ever.
TS: You�re losing just one senior, how does that set the team up for next year? It has
to give you a lot of momentum.
JC: Yeah we�ll see. Losing Bison�s going to be really tough, great leader, great friend,
and obviously a very talented player. We�ll see about recruits, we still don�t know.
There are a couple names out there where if we could get them we�d be able to make some
noise at conference next year. We�re excited.
TS: Well fantastic. Again, Jon Cohen, a fourth place finish, All-Conference, at the Midwest
Conference Golf Championships. Congratulations and good luck next year.