North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Golf Season Preview
10/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 3, 2004
The 2004-05 NC State men's golf team boasts a rich blend of experience and youth, giving the talented group an air of excitement as they hit the links. Three starters return this season from the Wolfpack lineup that finished 10-under at last year's ACC Championship and tied for 10th in the NCAA East Regional. They are joined by a few seasoned veterans and a couple talented newcomers.
Facing another tough schedule that features week after week of top-25 team dominated fields, NC State welcomes the challenge and also welcomes the addition of its new short-game practice facility that opened in August. Head coach Richard Sykes is excited about the year ahead and lists qualifying for the NCAA Championship at the top of his team goals.
"I can't wait to get started," said Sykes. "We return Jerry Richardson, Garry Hill and Stephen Lewton, who all kept improving throughout the year. Hill and Richardson were freshmen last year and Lewton had only been here a semester longer than they had. All three of those guys finished in the top 10 of our conference tournament." Adding to the experience of those three are the Pack's four seniors, all of whom have big tournament experience.
"Banks Wood has been around the program for a few years, was in and out of the lineup last season and won the Carolinas Amateur this summer," Sykes said. "That raised his confidence level and he's become a leader of this team."
Wood's classmates are all returning from injuries and look to finish their collegiate careers on a high note.
"Rodney Thomas and Sutton Barbrey have both played in the NCAA tournament and Jeremy Langdale was the junior college national champion two years ago," Sykes said. "All three of those guys got hurt last year and basically missed the whole season. All three of them are coming off of game-changing injuries.
"Rodney busted his elbow two springs ago and he made some alterations to his swing after that," Sykes continued. "This summer he's gotten back to where he was before that injury. Sutton played one round this past fall before he messed his shoulder up and missed the rest of the year."
A broken foot in the fall and a back injury in the spring kept Langdale sidelined the whole season. He'll be expected to compete for a spot in the lineup, along with redshirt-freshman Jace Strandberg.
"Jace redshirted last season and kept getting better and better throughout the year," Sykes said. "He then had a good summer, with some great finishes in some tournaments." Three talented freshmen join the mix as well, giving the Wolfpack quality depth.
"Andrew Byrd was the runner-up in the NC Junior, took third in the Carolinas Junior and is just a really good player," Sykes said. "Chase Duncan has done quite well at some big national tournaments this summer and Carter Cheves is going to be anther great addition to our team."
Teeing off Oct. 4, the Pack opens the season with four fall tournaments. Then in the spring, NC State will resume play at the end of February in Puerto Rico. The Wolfpack will be making familiar stops at the Chris Schenkel Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga., the Augusta State/Cleveland Golf Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta Ga., and hosting the Courtyard by Marriott Intercollegiate at MacGregor Downs in Cary, N.C., before heading back to The Old North State Golf Club at Uwharrie Point in New London, N.C., for the ACC Championship. New stops along the way for NC State this spring include the Seminole Intercollegiate at Golden Eagle Golf Club in Tallahassee, Fla., and Hootie at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, S.C.
"Our schedule difficulty has been ranked in the top 10 the last several years and this year's is quite nice as well," Sykes said. "We open in Chicago, at Conway Farms, which is a really nice course. We haven't played in this tournament before, but it looks like it will have a really good field too. Then we go out to Pepperdine, which should be a nice trip. It will be during fall break and should be a good tournament. We go from there to Isleworth, which is a very exclusive golf course and something that we're really looking forward to. We finish the fall at The Farm, which always has a really tough field. Our spring schedule is basically the same as usual, so the schedule will be pretty strong.
"We're going to see top 25 teams every week," Sykes continued. "That's what we do. That's the reason this schedule was made - to play against the best."
To cap off a demanding schedule, the Wolfpack wants to be playing its best golf in the postseason.
"Obviously we'd like to be playing at the NCAA Finals," Sykes said. "We'd like to win the conference championship and that's a possibility. This team has good enough players on it that if we're playing well the right week, we're good enough to win it. We're not going to have a lack of talent and we're not going to have a lack of work ethic or a lack of grit."
Replacing All-ACC and all-region selection, Fernando Mechereffe, from last year's squad requires a new leader for the Pack.
"We are still young and none of them have really had to be the leader before," Sykes said. "You never know how people are going to react when they are counted on and when they know they have to play well. Last year they could look to Fernando and know that he would go out there and put a good score on the board. It will be interesting to see who steps forward and says `I'm going to put that good score on the board.' If three or four of them step forward and say that, then we could be really good."
NC State took a huge step in the right direction with the completion of its new short-game practice facility this past summer.
"We've had the opportunity to practice and play at most of the clubs in the area and they have been very good to us," Sykes said. "It is hard to stand out there for two or three hours on their short-game area though. We have now built our own - with the help of the athletic department, the Wolfpack Club and the generous donations of Wolfpackers.
"Any shot from 115 yards and in can be played there," Sykes continued. "All types of bunker shots, pitch shots and pitch-and-runs can be played there. There is one dedicated putting green and the other two greens are putting greens that can be played to with other kinds of shots."
Sykes believes that this new practice facility will pay dividends for his squad.
"Over the years of watching our teams play, I can say that we've struck the ball as well as anybody, but it looks like we lose some strokes around the green," Sykes said. "It seems we lose strokes around the green from being unprepared. If we can improve one stroke per man because of improved short game, that would be 12 strokes in a tournament. If they improve two strokes, that's 24!
"A guy can improve two shots per round at a collegiate level by being a great short-game player," Sykes continued. "The best college players are always great short-game players. Now just because we got a new short-game practice area doesn't mean that we'll go out in our first tournament and be 24 shots better, but over the course of this year, we'll be able to score better."
Things are falling into place for the NC State men's golf team to have a very good year in 2004-05. The new short-game practice facility is finished, the team returns an abundance of experience, plus adds some talented newcomers. The Wolfpack will be going up against top-25 teams every weekend and looks forward to the competition.
