Bobcat golfers take first

    The No. 13 ranked GCSU Golf Team earned its first victory of the season Tuesday at the Richard Rendlemen Invitational hosted by Catawba College.  To make victory sweeter, the Bobcats placed ahead of Peach Belt Conference rival USC Aiken, who is nationally ranked No. 6.
    “Mentally, we were wanting to just go in, get the job done and focus on the task at hand,” said freshman Joe Young.
    The Bobcats did just that, as four of the five GCSU golfers placed in the top-20, best in the tournament for any school. Young paced the Bobcats, finishing in a tie for fifth overall and shooting a 171 over two rounds. 
    Sophomore Francisco Bide tied for ninth in the tournament, followed by senior Kyle Collins who was one stroke behind Bide and tied for twelfth overall. Senior Juan Bialet finished nineteenth overall and sophomore Niclas Johansson placed fifty-second to round out the GCSU team.
    Since the beginning of the spring golf season, the Bobcats have played in three tournaments. They have placed in the top three each time, progressively getting better before taking the trophy on Tuesday. 
    Last week, the team placed second in the Pirate Invitational hosted by Armstrong Atlantic State University.  Three weeks ago, they finished third at the Matlock Invitational hosted by Florida Southern University.
    However, Coach Jimmy Wilson made one thing clear to his team upon returning to Milledgeville on Tuesday.
    “Enjoy the moment, because we want to prepare for the third week in May, not the third week in March,” said Wilson.  “Every year we try to build toward the national tournament.”
    Wilson’s teams have certainly been successful in reaching the tournament.  In fact, they haven’t missed the NCAA National Tournament in the last ten years.  With a win on Tuesday and a national ranking, it appears the Bobcats have no intentions of letting that streak snap.
    Even with seven of the eleven members of the golf team being sophomores or younger, Coach Wilson believes this team is capable of making some noise in May.
    “I’m not worried about inexperience being a factor,” he said.  “In our first tournament appearance we had one senior, one sophomore and three freshmen in our starting five.  Every time we play it’s a growing experience for these guys.  Everybody’s playing well, and if we put it together in May, we’ve got a shot.”
    The Bobcats will play three more times before the conference tournament. 
    Next Sunday, they will be in Valdosta to participate in the Southeastern Intercollegiate Tournament, which features three rounds.  The following Monday, they’ll host the Bobcat Invitational, a two-round tournament.  The final regular season appearance for the golf team will be April 7-8 at the Emerald Coast Collegiate Invitational hosted by West Florida.  The Peach Belt Conference Championship begins in late April, followed by the NCAA Regionals in early May.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 7 2008. 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