Golf team ready for year, with new players on team

The start of a new year at Georgia College & State University only means one thing — another exciting year of Bobcat golf to look forward to. With so many returning players back from last year’s team, which finished eight in the final NCAA II poll, these players cab be expected to have yet another solid year.

Coach Jimmy Wilson heads into his 13th year as the Bobcat head coach and plans to have yet another good team on his hands. With four of his top five returning from last year, Wilson will have a good sense of his team, which can be hard to get so early in the season.

Estaben Endere, who graduated last year, will be badly missed.

“Estaben was a four-year starter, male athlete of the year at GC&SU,and Academic All-American, but more importantly, he was sort of like the glue to the team,” said Wilson, on Endere. “If one of the guys on the team had a problem and they didn’t want to come to me, then they would go right to Estaben.”

With Endere leaving, Wilson does feel that someone will step up and take that role on the team.

The team is still fairly young; with no seniors, this team will still be intact for the upcoming and following season. The most recognized returner to the team is junior David Robinson. Last year Robinson led the Bobcats with a scoring average of 74.93 and finished out the year as a 3rd team All-American. Along with that honor, Robinson led the team with a total of 9 top twenty finishes in 12 events.

“David has a tremendous golf game and had a 3.0 GPA, and I don’t know, as a coach, if you can ask a whole lot out of anybody. David, as a junior golfer, won the Georgia State and Junior Championship at the age of 15. We knew when we signed him three years ago that we had something special, and he has not disappointed us at all,” said Wilson, on what he thinks about Robinson.

The remaining top five players are as follows: Jose Medrano, Budda Gwyn, Carter Collins, and T.J. Gibson. Medrano, nicknamed “Paulie,” needs to step things up this year so the team can have a really good 1-2 punch.

“I think Paulie has a world of talent and needs to show that he can play and not have ups and downs. He has a great swing, and I feel that he should improve, and he will improve the overall team,” said Wilson.

Gwyn is starting his third year here, and things look good after a really good sophomore season, in which his stroke average was 77.16 while notching two top twenty finishes.

Most of the team is still trying to prove that they can play at this level. Collins, a freshman from Claxton, has a lot of talent and has already shown Wilson enough talent to get into the top five, and he looks like he can be a serious help to this team for years to come.

Gibson, as a freshman played in five tournaments last year while averaging 78.7. In the Presbyterian Intercollegiate, Gibson registered his best finish as a college golfer with a fifth place finish. Brandon Youmans is a player who can step it up at any time. Look for him to try to get into the top five again.

Wilson, on Youmans, said, “Brandon his struggled a little bit so far this year, so for right now, he will be not be making the trip to this weekend’s tournament, but with his game in, he can get back in the thick of things at any time.”

Among these good top five players are five more players that could easily start for any other team. Two juniors who will be looking for playing time; Agustin Berroeta, who played little last year, is improved and looks to be ready for some more playing time, and Clint Tyson, who transferred in, looks to be a good addition to the young team. Three sophomores who are all looking for more time on the course this year are Brad Davis, Matthew Reed, and Wes Simmons.

With so many young guns ready to play now, this team has the potential to be really, good. One thing is for sure. Look out for the Bobcat golf team before they swing right by you.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 21 2001. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry