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STATESBORO, Ga. – Follow Georgia Southern senior Will Evans for a few holes when the Eagles compete in the NCAA Regionals at Briggs Ranch Golf Club this week, and all the outward signs will indicate he is playing a terrible round of golf, possibly the worst of his career. 

Plodding gait. Slumped shoulders. Head down. Often muttering to himself sternly. 

Then ask a coach or parent what he is shooting, and "even" or "1-under" will inevitably be the reply. 

Say again?

It has gotten to the point where classmate and roommate Hayden Anderson mentions his demeanor at a team meeting at the start of each season. 

"If you're ever playing behind Will, don't get discouraged," he tells the team. "He's in the trees a lot, and he's usually mad at himself and getting upset. But don't worry.  He's probably 1-under to 1-over, making pars from nowhere."

Will is what is known in golf terms as a grinder – a guy who battles through adversity on the course to score well, even when he is not playing his best golf. His reputation as a grinder is so legendary with his teammates, that they have added another scoring term to the game of golf – a Will par.

"A Will par would be a bad tee shot, a dumb second shot, a bad chip and then a 25-footer for par," Evans says with a laugh. "They are special. They usually come from me making a dumb decision somewhere on that hole. It's very stressful. They're a sight to see because most of the time, I'm staring bogey or double right in the face. Most of them have to do with some lucky recovery shots."

The stress of Will pars throughout 18 holes is what leads to the body language of a beaten man rather than one who just shot a 2-under 70. The stress of Will pars over a 54-hole tournament can take its toll on his game and affect an individual finish. It is a bad habit he has been trying to kick throughout his career.

"I'm definitely a grinder but, I'm trying to move away from that," says Evans. "I'm trying to get to where I don't have to grind at all, and it's relaxing."

He is overcoming the habit successfully for the most part in his final season as an Eagle. In his first three years at Georgia Southern, Evans had two top-10 finishes. This year, he has five, including three top-5 outings, and is third on the team in scoring average at 73.27, almost two strokes lower than his career average.

"This year, I've focused on trying to make a normal par," he says. "Hit it in the fairway, hit it in the middle of the green, two-putt and go to the next hole. This year has been a lot more stress free, and I like playing stress free a lot better."

Stress-free golf has been Evans' quest throughout his career. The anxiety and worry that comes with trying to make the lineup each week kept him out of a majority of tournaments in his first two seasons. A college golf team generally has twice the number of players on its roster than the 5-man lineup the coaches submit for a tournament. Decisions on who makes the lineup are most often made through team qualifiers. It's fairly simple, especially at the start of a season – finish in the top 5 of the qualifier and get on the van for the Eagles' first tournament. Play well in the tournament and get an exemption from the next qualifier.

"Qualifying was my Achilles heel for almost two years," says Evans. "It's a pressure cooker. Personally, I feel it's so much easier to play once you are on the van traveling. You're not worrying about, 'hey, I want to make this one.'"

After playing in five tournaments his first season, which is not bad for a freshman, Evans qualified for just three as a sophomore. Willing to try just about anything at that point, Evans turned to Dr. Daniel Czech, a sport psychology professor at Georgia Southern.

"He sent something to the coaches, looking to help out with the team," says Evans. "I contacted him, and it turned out to be one of the best golf moves I ever made. He's helped me out so much. He pushed the snowball over, got me on the right track, then I started playing better and then it just kept on going."

Evans met with Dr. Czech on a weekly basis for the better part of a year and then monthly for a while after that.

"He helped me a lot with staying in the present and not worrying about the outcome," says Evans. "Focus on the process and not the outcome. Get your mind right - if you have a bad thought, nip it in the bud immediately. Don't let it fester and brew."

Evans qualified for the first tournament his junior season, but did not play well enough to earn an exemption. Put back into qualifying, he missed the cut for the next tournament. He qualified for the third tournament, the AutoTrader.com Classic, finished 10th and has been a mainstay in the lineup since then, playing in the last 21 events, including all 11 this season.

"I said, 'that's the end of that, I'm not missing out on this year,'" says Evans. "I worked hard, and if I did get thrown into qualifying, I made sure that I didn't treat it like it was anything different. I slowly figured out that it's a big deal, but you have to treat it like it's not a big deal when you play. Once you are in a tournament, play well. Don't give your teammates an opening to beat you. Once I got over that, things came a lot easier."

Evans has placed in the top-10 of three of the last four tournaments, and shot a 71 at a U.S. Open local qualifier Monday to tie for third and earn a first alternate spot to a Sectional Qualifier. Will pars are still a part of his game as they always will be, but now they are often sandwiched by normal pars, and some of the 25-footer snake putts are turning into Will birdies. 

"It's just the snowball turning over," says Evans. "Once we got everything right in the head, I got more confidence, and it has just continued to work. I just keep working hard and try to play well."

His 22nd straight tournament in the lineup begins Thursday, and it will deliver its own form of pressure as the Eagles need to finish in the top-5 to advance to the NCAA Championship Finals at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas, May 23-28.

Anderson, Charlie Martin, Matthew Mierzejewski and Scott Wolfes join Evans in the lineup this week. It's the same quintet that won the Schenkel Invitational in March, which had a similar field as the regional. The regional has eight teams in the top-50 in the country, including the 42nd ranked Eagles, while the Schenkel featured five at the time.

"We have a team we know we can win with," says Evans. "We're playing with a lot of confidence, and we have a lot of confidence in each other."

Four of the five Eagles in the lineup played in the Columbus Regional last year, and this will be the third NCAA Regional appearance of Anderson's career. This week's lineup has won four tournaments in the past two seasons.

"It's a pretty good feeling to have five experienced guys going to play," says Evans. "If we stick to our game plan, play smart and play to the best of our abilities, there's no reason why we shouldn't go to Kansas."

Should you happen to see Will with his head down muttering words of encouragement to himself on the course in San Antonio this week, do not fret. 

He's probably even with a Will par or two.