The Augusta State men’s golf team is entering its spring season attempting to do something that no team has done in Division I golf in more than 46 years: win a third consecutive national championship.
Augusta State became the first team to win back-to-back titles with their victory over the University of Georgia at the conclusion of the 2011 season since the University of Houston accomplished the feat in their 1984 and 1985 seasons, respectively. Houston was also the last team to win more than two in a row, with four consecutive titles in 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967. Senior Taylor Floyd said getting back to the postseason is still a work in progress.
“Obviously a trip back to postseason would be our No. 1 priority, just trying to make it back to the national championship again,” he said. “I know we have the talent to do it, but we have a lot of young guys in the lineup. We kind of struggled in the fall with finding a rhythm and getting the right five guys in there that we are comfortable with.”
The fall season proved to be a challenging one for the young team, as it only finished in the top five in three events out of 11.
“We got off to a slow start (in the fall) but I think we finished on a good note,” said head coach Kevin McPherson.
“We finished fourth in Dallas and that was a good strong field so we kind of left the fall season with a good taste in our mouth. Hopefully we will just kind of ride that out going into the spring and (be) able to start back where we left off.”
The Jags lost all five starters from the 2011 national championship team with the departure of Patrick Reed, Carter Newman, Mitch Krywulycz and Henrik Norlander. Olle Bengtsson, who was also on the team, is in his first season as an assistant coach with the team. McPherson said Floyd, a vital player on the 2010 championship team, should prove to be the team’s natural leader entering the spring 2012 season.
“I’ve been saying since day one that Taylor Floyd would be our leader,” McPherson said. “He is a senior this year, and he was part of the starting five players in the 2010 national championship. He played a vital role in winning that first national championship. He has just been playing some solid golf now and he played well in the last event in Dallas.”
Some of the freshmen players have shown great improvement in their short time at Augusta State, McPherson said.
“One (player) that comes to mind right away is Robin Petterson,” he said. “As a freshman, he is a strong little player. He’s got his head on his shoulders right and knows what he wants to do. It’s kind of like a learning curve for him. After the first semester, we sat down and had a little evaluation, and he kind of got the cobwebs out. I think he has gained a little bit of experience with playing in every event that we’ve played in the fall semester and I think he is going to be a great solid player for us, not only in this semester coming up but in every year to come.”
Though he has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA for the 2012 season, Jack Heasman looks to get the most out of his first year with the Jags.
“I sort of see that as an advantage in some ways,” he said. “It would be nice to be competing, but, for me personally, it’s a nice bit of time for myself that I can really put to my advantage. Specifically, I just have to work on my consistency and my short game. I mean, at this level, the short game is really the difference between winning and losing.”
Heasman said the team should focus on smaller goals rather than tackling the big ones first.
“I think the guys will make it to regionals and, from there, it will be their golf that gets them to nationals,” he said. “I think going to regionals is a realistic goal. I think it will be an achievement just to get there this year. Patience and confidence is what they need to have this year. They have to be patient with putting the new team together, and they need to be confident in what they have.”
The Jags returned to action at the San Diego/TaylorMade Collegiate in Chula Vista, Calif., on Feb. 13.