TicketsFeb. 9, 2011
By Jeff Gentil
GoBEARCATS.com
The UC men's golf team kicks off its spring schedule this weekend at The Match Play tournament in Lutz, Florida. Coach Doug Martin and his squad have worked hard since October and are ready to see the fruits of their labor beginning Thursday as they go head-to-head with BIG EAST foe St. John's.
Typically, Martin likes to challenge his team by playing the stronger teams from the south that naturally have more chances to practice given the nicer weather. Fortunately for UC, they won't have such a decided disadvantage in the opener as St. John's has likely had the same, if not worse, weather than UC this winter.
There was a mixed bag of results in the fall. The Bearcat golfers got off to a rough start placing 15th out of 16 teams at the Cardinal Intercollegiate and 12th of 14 at the Fighting Irish Classic in their first two tournaments. In their defense, both of those tournaments featured some of the top programs in the country. They managed to bounce back, placing sixth of 16 at the Telich/Sunlife Classic, seventh of 18 at the UC Invitational, and tied for fourth of 13 at the Davidson College Invitational giving the team some momentum as they headed into the break.
"The fall was very productive and very consistent," head coach Doug Martin said. "Zach Bates did some good things. Joe (Kastelic) needs to play better; it was not his best fall. (David) Tepe and (Andrew) Desmarais had some moments where they did good things. And (Spencer) Mellon also did some good things in the fall. We play a very difficult schedule; the aim is to get better each day and week."
As is the norm for the UC Golf program, there is not much chance to get outside during the break and improve on an actual course. They must rely on their indoor practice facility and work on other aspects of their game.
"Our big focus is how we get ourselves mentally ready," Martin said. "We talk about how to be patient and have poise and get mentally to the next shot. How do we handle our expectations when we get back out? I try to make sure no matter how we play that we take something positive out of it."
From what Martin has seen over the break, there is good reason to be positive about the outlook of the spring portion of the season.
"The guys have bought in," he said. "Now we need to apply the things we discussed. I feel better about how the team prepared. Thanks to Dave Andrews and Curtis Bostic, our guys hit the gym hard. This optimism is a little different from the past."
Joe Kastelic has not played nearly as well as Martin would like. The senior was second on the team with a 74.4 stroke average, but Martin believes it isn't his game that holds him back.
"Joe gets very impatient with himself," he said. "I would like to see more enthusiasm and fire from him. He's very laid back. Over the break he made some swing adjustments and he is hitting the ball as well as he's hit it since he got here."
Sophomore Zach Bates led the squad with a 73.5 stroke average and is the opposite of the relaxed Kastelic.
"Zach Bates is our team leader," Martin said. "He is very vocal and emotional. He has a bright future and worked very hard over the winter. He even got a chance to go down to Florida over the Martin Luther King weekend to play."
Two other sophomores, Andrew Desmarais and David Tepe, give Martin a solid core.
"Andrew needs to keep growing from his experience," Martin said. "He just needs to manage his game better. He certainly has the skill set; he just needs to work on minimizing his mistakes.
"David has made some swing changes that will get him back in the position to compete," he said. "But he gets emotional, too. He gets down on himself easily. He needs to learn to be his own best friend and not beat himself up so much. He needs to learn that he can still play well even if he doesn't strike the ball so well."
The search for the fifth golfer is still ongoing for Martin. Each player on the roster has had a chance to compete in a tournament but no one has stepped to the forefront as of yet.
The leading contenders thus far are freshman Spencer Mellon and junior Kurt Harris with sophomore Matt Ledom close behind.
If Martin can get the consistent effort he is looking for, the Bearcat men might open some eyes later in the spring.
"The goal for us should be that we are all mentally and physically ready to play," he said. "We want to be ready for the BIG EAST Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida in April. We have two months to prepare and I feel good about where we are."