In almost every sport, the coach determines a starting lineup, with a player’s spot on the starting roster dependent on play in practice or even prominence before college.
Now, though the coach has input, golfers are subject to their ability to perform from one week to the next, as seen in coach Bob Cooley’s squad.
“Our rule that the team agrees to is that the Top Four go, and I have a coach’s pick, but it’s almost always the Top Five,” said Cooley.
Terms are subject to change depending on a variety of factors, such as familiarity with the course or proximity to hometown, affecting tournament action.
“Plus, at Athens Country Club, it’s a short golf course and sometimes kids can qualify at Athens and then you put them in competition and it’s a lot longer golf course we’re playing, so they don’t play as well,” Cooley said.
Athens Country Club is a modest 3,132-yard nine-hole course designed by Donald Ross, a renowned veteran in course design, who is well known for Pinehurst No. 2, which has played host to several major championships.
He also designed Scioto Country Club and Inverness Club, two prominent private clubs in Ohio. Its uncharacteristic short yardage is made up of tight fairways lined by pines and back-to-front sloping greens commonly found in Ross’ designs.
Yet the courses the men’s team competes on are almost always a couple hundred yards longer per nine.
For example, at Pinehurst No. 2, where the men’s team played in early March, the nine-hole yardages for the front and back are 3,618 yards and 3,775 yards, respectively.
Cooley sees the circumstances shifting for competition spots if senior Byron Firestone, who leads the team in stroke average, were to play poorly in a qualifier. Yet he seems intent on the ability of his team to perform well during competitive play.
“Your tournament scores tell you a lot,” said Cooley. “Like I said, some kids can play Athens Country Club and then go to Penn State or Indiana or wherever and then they play bad. You look at what they’re doing in qualifying versus what they’re doing in competition. The competition is obviously the most important.”
ch115710@ohiou.edu
