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FAIRFAX, Va. – As Davis Soderberg adjusted to his first season as a collegiate golfer, he took solace knowing that when heading into a tournament on the road he could turn to several veterans on the team for advice to calm the nerves.

That will be no different this week when he participates in one of the top amateur tournaments in the region.

Soderberg and George Mason teammate Brock Kovach will compete in the 61st Eastern Amateur at the Elizabeth Manor Golf & Country Club in Portsmouth, Va. The four-day tournament begins on Thursday.

"Being a freshman this year you are always kind of on edge, you don't really know what to expect. But then having your best friends there with you is just awesome," Soderberg said. "This is my first go at it with all the amateur tournaments and it is pretty exciting."

The Eastern Amateur field includes 168 golfers from around the world with participants hailing from as far as Australia and competitors enrolled at schools across the country from TCU to Kansas State to Georgetown to Penn State. The lowest 80 golfers after the first two rounds will make the cut and advance into the weekend for the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.

Kovach, heading into his senior season, will tee off at 9:03 a.m. on Thursday as he makes his second appearance at the Eastern Amateur in the last three years. Soderberg, a rising sophomore, is making his Eastern Amateur debut and tees off at 1:24 p.m. on Thursday. The pair arrived in Portsmouth on Wednesday to play a practice round.

"It is going to be a blast. We've been looking forward to it," Kovach said. "With the practice round being together I'm sure we will talk about strategy… It will make it a lot more fun and enjoyable. If we're both playing well, too, that will even be more fun. Hopefully we can both make the cut and get another two rounds in."

The two golfers head into the tournament in the middle of busy summers.

Soderberg, a native of St. Charles, Mo., who now resides in Charlottesville, Va., attempted to qualify for the U.S. Open Sectional qualifying last month. Though he did not advance, he was able to qualify for the Virginia State Golf Association (VSGA) Amateur Championship thanks to finishing third on June 6 at the Wintergreen Resort in Nellysford, Va.

At the VSGA Amateur a couple weeks ago, Soderberg fared well in stroke play, tying for 16th with a 3-over 147 (73-74) at Creighton Farms in Aldie, Va. He advanced to the 32-golfer match play where he met Steve Serrao, a 43-year-old who played collegiately at Virginia. Serrao held the upperhand in match play, winning four straight holes on the front nine en route to a victory by a score of 6 and 4.

While disappointed with the loss, Soderberg was encouraged by his ability to get to match play. He also took comfort in seeing Serrao, a more experienced golfer, made a deep run in match play, reaching the semifinals.

"I didn't think I played great but I still performed to a point that I could get myself into match play," Soderberg said. "I took a ton away from the week. I discussed it over with Coach (Scott) King and Coach (Don) Kelly. We just figured some more things I need to work on and improve. I can see improvement coming. As far as the match play portion, I played Steve Serrao and he is a veteran. He is known around Virginia and he is a great amateur. He really, really played great. Sure, I could have played great too and still could have lost. He was really striking it well and putting it well. Props to him. He played great."

The 20-year-old has spent the summer trying to hone several areas of his game, especially putting. He's changed his stance to put more weight on his front leg and strengthening his balance to ensure consistency in his putting.

"We've been working on some stuff and I'm loving what it is doing right now (in practice)," he said. "But like I always say, tournament golf it is almost like a different sport. With the nerves and knowing the consequences of if you hit a bad shot. It is a different feel that is so hard to replicate when you're practicing. That's why golfers love testing themselves in tournaments. They get to put their practice to the test."

For Kovach, the Eastern Amateur provides a good measuring stick before he jumps into the thick of his summer golf season.

The rising senior from Wyomissing, Pa., hasn't played in a competitive golf tournament since playing in some local tournaments at the beginning of June. He qualified for the Eastern Amateur once before in 2015 – prior to his sophomore season at Mason – but failed to make the cut after two rounds.

"I feel like I'm a little different obviously" than two years ago, Kovach said. "I have two more years of college golf under my belt. You grow as a player. I think my mental game has grown a lot from then. I have learned more about my game. I feel like I am in more control of my game. I have come to know what to expect going out when I play every round, which is nice. I think I have learned to score much better so even if I don't have my 'A' game I still got to learn to get the ball in the hole basically."

Kovach is coming off a solid junior season in which he finished second on the team in scoring average (74.18) and finished in the top 20 in three tournaments. He posted his best finish of his career at the Old Dominion/OBX Collegiate in October when he tied for eighth after shooting 1-under for the tournament.

"I didn't think I was far off," Kovach said. "Golf is a game where you can be off just by the slightest bit and you're struggling compared to being in contention almost. They usually say the momentum putt, if you can make the 10-foot par putt to keep the round going. Usually you're not that far off even if you're struggling a little bit."

After this week, both golfers will continue to keep busy schedules over the summer.

Soderberg is set to compete with teammate Jeff Wilson at the Jefferson Cup in August in Charlottesville. Kovach has several tournaments through the Golf Association of Philadelphia and his local county amateur championship.

Both Soderberg and Kovach will be hoping for their best golf next week. They'll compete in qualifying tournaments for the U.S. Amateur Championship, arguably the most prestigious amateur golf tournament in the country, on Aug. 14-20 at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Soderberg will participate in a qualifying tournament in Missouri on Monday and Kovach will head back to Pennsylvania for his qualifier on Wednesday. The duo doesn't have to look far for inspiration as teammate and rising senior Eric Edwards made the U.S. Amateur last summer, becoming the first Patriot to compete in the tournament in nine years.

"With the U.S. Am, it has always been a dream," Soderberg said. "If you're an amateur golfer to make it to the U.S. Am, that's special. I know Eric did it last year and he obviously enjoyed his time. You play with the best players in the world. The top people there are going to be on the PGA Tour one day. You're playing with guys you are going to watch on TV one day. So it's pretty special. If I could pick a tournament to play really great in it would probably be the U.S. Am qualifier so I could make it to the big shebang."