Feb. 15, 2012
Q: Coming off your first spring event, what improvements do you see in your team from the fall? Greg Nye: Well, the fall was rough for us. Improvements have been made primarily out of determination. I think determination has changed and the team is really becoming a team. We've gotten much more to an "all in" type of group now. That all started beyond the golf. It started in the classroom for us. We've been working on this for a little over a year. We dropped off a bit in the classroom for a golf team and some of the performances we had in the past. We've brought in some capable people. We've got some people get on the stick and I'm so pleased to say from an academic standpoint, half of our team made Dean's list, which is right back where we would like to be - a very high GPA for the team. It doesn't sound golf related, but it is because when you take care of things like your academics and you have that in its right place and you take care of off the golf course and out of the classroom issues as well, that's the platform, that's the groundwork, which you begin to build to something that is highly competitive. We were not competitive in the fall and we just played after a very good month of practice. Amazing that seven of the eight days before we went to a February golf tournament in South Florida, we played golf outside before Valentine's Day - amazing. That put us in a pretty darn good place. The guys were very, very eager to be outside working at it. We had just spent the entire month in our practice rooms and practice facilities doing some off-season work and strength training. We just recently brought in some great technological advantages to our practice room, one being a Doppler radar system that provides a lot of data. The guys have felt like they are two weeks ahead of where they normally are because we got our hands on some great technology. It's really coming together in a lot of different places for us. If we can stay injury-free, which we didn't in the fall, that's going to help us a great deal as well as we strive to being more competitive. That being said, we went to the Big Ten Championships and right out of the blocks we played Northwestern. Northwestern went on to become the eventual champion of the event. Frankly, with a hole or two left in that match we had them beat. We lost in a tiebreaker and it really came down to a single half hole. We would have moved on. We did, however, play the next day against the Michigan State team that had vastly improved and has a nice ranking. That match was actually closer than the score ended up being, 2.5-1.5 that kind of closed in on us in the end. We had that match early and we had a lot of guys that were up in their matches. Generally, we go home and look at the rankings. What happened down there, we tied a match and we won a match, we didn't get beat. It was a happy plane ride home. It was very, very upbeat. We've got another three and a half weeks before we hit the road and head to Pinehurst. The guys are very, very uplifted. One other aspect that I think is important to us as we look forward and this spring media day, in November we signed three really outstanding recruits so looking to next fall, we're also very, very encouraged.
Q: Can you comment on what you saw from Jens Talbert in his first collegiate tournament and what you think he adds to the lineup? Greg Nye: It was his first event and we felt that he was very ready to play - his physical game, his preparation, his overall fitness - but what he really lacked was any kind of collegiate touch where he'd actually been there. Generally, that's a tough scene to get involved with. He won both of his matches handily, well the second match handily. The first one he was up, then he was tied and then he moved up again and finished it off. What I saw on the first tee of his first collegiate golf event with the crowd watching him and knowing it's going to be televised, I saw some pretty big eyes. Several deep breaths later, he was on his way to some pretty darn good golf. We feel like we've added another really fine player to our future.
Q: How is Big Ten competition looking this year? Greg Nye: The Big Ten competition, like this past weekend - we need to get better. I think we're going to do that. We're going to be at Iowa, we will see a few Big Ten teams there before the championship. Overall, we really need to get better and we need to get everybody in all the time. We need to improve. If we can do that, I think we can move into the middle of the conference. It's a strong necessity to just improve and keep improving. We have to stay solid in the classroom. We have to stay solid with how we act in between classroom and coming to practice and the choices we make. If we do all of those things, that's going to happen. We are going to be competitive. We are very close to turning a corner here. I think it's evidenced in the match play, but it's not enough evidence. I think we need to do a little bit more.
Q: What are your thoughts on the spring schedule? Greg Nye: The Pinehurst Tournament we have won and traditionally played very well in. We've had some awfully good teams the past few years. We've had familiarity with that site. Then we turn a corner, come out of there and head down to Towson's three-day tournament down in Eastern Shore of Maryland. I'm somewhat familiar with that area. I should be able to guide them a bit there. I think we will do very well in that event. We won't see any Big Ten teams while we are there. It will be primarily East Coast teams. Coming home, we'll have a mixture of mid-American conference teams and East Coast teams. If we keep forging forward the way we are right now, I would look for some success there. We will make a long trip out to Iowa. I think there could be a pretty good upswing as we look at results here over that three-week stretch and the Pinehurst familiarity. Those are two new events, Iowa and Towson, are two brand new ones for us.
Q: Coming off the fall campaign and the first spring event, who are looking to lead the team? Greg Nye: I think that's kind of a combination. We've had sophomores often put their arms around freshman because they're going to be long-term teammates. We've seen some great leadership out of Shane Stewart in that regard, bringing our freshman along. Jay Woodward is an extraordinarily hard working golfer from the standpoint of not only working on all aspects of his game, but he trains very hard physically. He is a very determined player to bring our team to the front. Of course, Tommy McDonagh, who had a great win this past summer in the New York City area, has come into his own as far as his leadership and being more vocal. Also, backing up what he says with what he does. He's turned into a nice leader. I'd say those are three people that are highly involved and behind the scenes. Nick Archambault has done a nice job as well as a senior. Hasn't played much, but is really doing a lot of the right things for us. That's really, when I say "all in," we are starting to get that kind of a contribution. That's infectious.