The TCU club golf team is competing in its first tournament of the year this weekend at Cross Timbers Golf Course in Azle, Texas.

The team consists of 25 members. Anyone enrolled at TCU is welcome to join the co-ed squad.

The team’s president, Memo Saldana, a finance and economics double major, said he started the team because he wanted to play golf competitively and be able to travel with a team, while still focusing on academics.

“Club golf is an organization for people that love golf that want to have an opportunity to compete with different universities in United States and represent TCU,” Saldana said.

The team finished a few shots short of making it to nationals last season, which Saldana said is the team’s ultimate goal. “We were ranked as high as number 2 in the nation for a few weeks,” Saldana said.

The team competes in a competitive Texas region, which includes Baylor, SMU, Texas A&M, Rice University and the University of Texas. Baylor is the reigning club golf national champion, according to nccga.org.

A desire to continue playing competitively is what motivates most members to join the team.

“I had a fantastic experience playing on my high school’s golf team and TCU’s club golf team allows me to be a part of something of the same caliber,” said first-year biology major Trey Schneider.

A love of the game of golf is also a primary motivator among team members.

“I expect to meet a solid group of guys who share the same love for the game of golf as I do,” first-year business major Michael Consolo said. “I want to see if I can take my game to the next level and by joining club I’ll be able to test my game without as much pressure.”

The team has been practicing all week to prepare for this weekend’s qualifier for the national club golf tournament at Cross Timbers Golf Course. The Frogs are taking eight players to compete in the tournament.

“The president of the club is pushing us to get better so our team can have a shot at nationals this year and that would be awesome if we qualified for that,” Consolo said.

Saldana has big aspirations for the team this season: “My expectations are very high for this year. I would love to win the Texas Region, play in nationals and represent TCU at the national level.”