By Brian Jennings
Break out the irons and polish your balls. Work out the mechanics that you have been working on. You can feel that winter has lifted and spring is here. Pinch blades of grass and let them float away from your fingers to get a sense of direction. A decision has to be made: lay up? Or go for it all? That time is upon us. Golf is coming and the Blue Devils are ready.
The men’s golf team comes into the second half of the 2010-2011 season with a lot of baggage: the 2011 NEC men’s golf preseason favorite, according to the league’s head coaches poll. CCSU snagged five first-place votes, beating out Sacred Heart with two votes in second and defending champions Saint Francis (PA) also with two votes.
Head Coach Kevin Giancola comes into his second season coaching the Blue Devils after a very successful first half. Giancola helped move the Blue Devils 160 spots in the rankings from 237 to 122 in the nation, making it the largest jump in Division I Men’s Golf history. Having a good finish in the Adam’s Cup was key and gave the Blue Devils a lot of respect through the fall season and, when asked about how it feels to be the NEC Preseason Favorite, Coach Giancola simply loves it.
“Having a target on your back is the whole point of sports and competition,” said Giancola. “Getting votes from five other coaches was kind of cool. Being number one is what you want to be…polls don’t mean anything. Just because you’re number one doesn’t mean your number one.”
Things weren’t as successful for Coach Giancola when he took over as head coach in 2009. He came to CCSU as a ‘bothered coach’ and felt that the team was ‘divided’. “I had to get rid of six players,” said Giancola. “Having team camaraderie is huge to success. I don’t take the best players, I take the right players.”
CCSU didn’t lose any key players. Remember the golfer who finished 2010 with four, top 10 finishes, finishing first in the Macdonald Cup and CCSU Fall Invitational, with an average 73.3 in 15 rounds? He’s back, returning for the Blue Devils is junior Kevin Josephson.
Leading the Blue Devils to a first place finish at the CCSU Fall Invitational and earning three NEC Golfer of the Week Awards in 2010, Josephson will have all NEC eyes on him heading into the spring of 2011. He almost had the perfect end to 2010, finishing second individually at the 76th Annual New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championship, finishing with a 71 (-1) tied for first, but later lost on the second playoff hole.
However, Josephson was still able to lead the Blue Devils to a third place finish, eight strokes behind Rhode Island who took the title. He was also named an All-New England selection for his fight for second. Keep in mind he is not alone. He’s teamed with Daniel Morgan, Justin Hughes, and Eric Hawerchuk.
Morgan, the freshman Blue Devil from Mullumbimby, Australia, finished 2010 with an average of 74.8 and two top 10 finishes in 15 rounds with a third place finish at the CCSU Fall Invitational. On the other hand, Hughes, the senior from Simsbury, CT, contributed with a single top 10 finish, averaging 75.8 in 15 rounds. His best finish was second at the CCSU Fall Invitational.
The Blue Devils as a team finished 2010 with an overall average of 76.0 and eight top 10 finishes.
Coach Giancola believes in beating the best to be the best and has set up a competitive schedule for his Blue Devils this season. “The only way to get better is play better teams,” said Giancola. “Our first goal is to be the best in the NEC,” he added, “all we need are three things: hard work, consistency, and team camaraderie.”