Feb. 13, 2012
By Caleb Barron, Media Relations Student Assistant
Nearly 4,000 miles away from the cold, gray Midwestern winter, the Missouri men's golf team begins the spring season Wednesday at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate Tournament in O'ahu, Hawaii.
Both coach and player are looking forward to the warmer weather - and understand the importance of the event.
"It is a treat," Head Coach Mark Leroux says. "We tend to go someplace very nice about every four years, so while a kid has their four years at Mizzou, they have the opportunity to go to that one very nice place."
"It's the first tournament of the season and no one knows how we've been practicing," sophomore Emilio Cuartero said. "No one knows anything, so the expectations are `Let's see.'"
One certainty heading into 2012 is the consistency of junior All-American Jace Long. The Dixon, Mo. native comes off of a sophomore season that ranks as one of the greatest seasons in Mizzou Golf history. In 2011, he won four events, including the 2011 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship, and finished in the top 50 at the NCAA Championships.
Expectations are high for the self-proclaimed quite leader; he was named to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List (along with 27 other golfers around the nation) in early February. Each year, the award is given to the top men's golfer in the NCAA. Long claims pressure has not and will not get to him, while conceding this is a big year for him.
"I'll probably enter tour qualifying school at the end of the fall next year as an amateur, so if I don't make it, I can come back and play for the university in the spring," Long says.
Equally important to Long is finding a way to take his team with him to the NCAA Championships this season. Last May, the Tigers finished just two strokes behind Arkansas for the final spot at Nationals.
With the loss of just one senior, Will Harrold, MU entered the fall seemingly in great position to pick up right where they left off. However, No. 2 player Stuart Ballingall decided to forgo college, electing to begin a pro career in his native England. Leroux admits losing Ballingall set the team back. The Tigers ended the fall campaign with a stumble at Baylor, finishing the season ranked 68th in one poll and 70th in another.
Just like basketball, NCAA golf has automatic qualifiers and at-large bids in the postseason tournament. Missouri's current rank has them right on the bubble of postseason play.
Leroux believes the team, led by Long (who he calls one of the greatest he's ever coached), has enough talent to reach the NCAA Championships.
"You get one guy that kind of rises above the rest and everybody is trying to catch him," Leroux says. "So he kind of drags everybody along. And if you ever get two, then you're in really good shape."
Leroux may get his second in the form of the engaging Cuartero. As a true freshman, Cuartero earned his first collegiate victory at Washington State and finished in a tie for 26th at the Southeast Regional. A former No. 1 ranked player in Spain, Cuartero says he is ready to be a team leader.
"I'm learning a lot about my teammates," Cuartero says. "I know them and I know what they need. This is what a leader needs to know."
Senior Nick Wilson enters 2012 with a firm grasp on the No. 3 spot, followed by some uncertainty at the four and five spots. Leroux says redshirt junior Tommie Wuennenberg has played his way into the top five for the first time and will be in Hawaii this week. Two true freshman, Ryan Zech and Wilson Sundvold, will also make the trip. Junior Brad Moody should compete for tournament time.
For the Tigers to reach their peak, they will need one of the freshman to contribute. Leroux believes they are poised to do so.
"Sometimes a freshman comes in and they are your very best players," Leroux says.
Sundvold, the son of MU basketball great Jon Sundvold, led Rock Bridge High School to the 2011 Missouri Class 4 State Championship and was named all-state three times. He competed in one fall tournament.
Zech was named the 2011 Kansas City Metro Player of the Year and was an all-state selection each of his four seasons. This past fall, he competed in four tournaments, finishing seventh at the Notre Dame Gridiron Classic. Zech believes he and Sundvold are ready for the 2012 season.
"Hopefully we don't put extra pressure on ourselves. There's really no reason to, but that's always one of the x-factors," Zech said.
After returning from Hawaii, the Tigers have three tournaments to pad their postseason resume before the Big 12 Championships begin in late April. But Cuartero believes the team is defining their upcoming season right now, each day, at practice.
"[Spanish greats] Seve Ballesteros, José Mariá Olazabal: they work hard," Cuartero says. "Right now, you have talent you can get there. But to stay there, you need to work hard."
According to Cuartero, the team is ready, and he will be as well, when the time comes.
"Sometimes the difference between the winners and the losers is it requires extra effort," Cuartero says. "I think I've got that. I just have to wait for the moment."
Missouri golf is banking on that moment resting just around the corner.