Golfers swinging into fall season

    Despite a twelfth place finish in the Kiawah Island Invitational in South Carolina, Tuesday, GCSU’s golf team is optimistic about the fall season, in which they look to build upon a sixth place national finish last spring.
    The key questions coming into any season are, “What are we gaining?” and “What are we losing?” For GCSU’s golf team this year, the answers to those questions are, “A whole lot” and “not much.”
    The Bobcats are set to tee off their fall golf season to prepare to take a run at a Peach Belt Conference championship in the spring season, a coveted trophy that has eluded the team for seven years since its last championship in 2000. But the strength of this year’s roster and a preseason No. 5 national ranking has them eyeing an even bigger prize.
“Team wise, I’m pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say a national championship is our biggest priority, especially after last year’s season,” said freshman business major Billy Shida, part of a very strong incoming freshmen class.
Shida and freshmen Jeff Rivers, Bailey Craig and, redshirt freshman, Matthew Yonz, are a large reason for the Bobcats high expectations this year.
    From the team that finished sixth in the NCAA Tournament last spring, only stand out Johan Cranvall, who led the team with six top-20 finishes last year, is gone. Besides adding four excellent freshmen to the roster, GCSU returns 2007 Ping All-American Niclas Szieger, who will begin the season slowly as he comes back from a shoulder injury incurred in the off-season. Also returning are starters Kyle Collins, Juan Bialet, Francisco Bide and Niclas Johansson, the four who accounted for 15 top-20 finishes last season.
    Even with a star-studded cast, a run at the national or Peach Belt title will not be easy. Conference rivals Columbus State University and The University of South Carolina at Aiken begin the season ranked third and sixth, respectively. CSU finished fourth at nationals last year, but lost three starters while Aiken looks to have yet another good team after failing to win a national championship last year for the first time since 2003.
    “The Peach Belt Conference is the toughest conference in terms of golf,” says Head Coach Jimmy Wilson, who is going into his twelfth year as GCSU’s golf coach.
    Wilson carries a streak of ten consecutive national tournament appearances into this season.
    “For the fall, we just want to try and get everybody some playing time and find out who are our top five,” Wilson said.
    The coach said he will be seeing as many as nine players play this fall in order to find the best for the spring.
    “All of the rookies came in ready to compete. We’ve got six of seven returning from last year and four freshmen in the top five.”
    It would seem pretty characteristic of a man who is paid to play golf nearly every day to seem relaxed but, for Wilson, there is definitely more to it. GCSU’s roster, that almost came away with a PBC and National title last year, only got better, so there is room for more than a little optimism.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 14 2007. 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