June 24, 2014
By R.J. Layton, Mizzou Student Assistant
The Missouri Men's Golf team closed out its 2013-14 campaign in style, capitalizing on its fourth postseason berth in five seasons with a strong third-place finish at the NCAA regional and solid 20th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Behind the guidance of head coach Mark Leroux, two Tigers earned All-America honors and junior Ryan Zech placed in the Top 10 nationally.
On the heels of Missouri's recent success, Leroux has been named coach of Team USA at the 2014 Toyota Junior World Golf Tournament held in Toyota City, Japan. The tournament will feature the top junior golfers from 15 countries across six continents. Four rounds will be played June 24-27 using a four-players-count-three format.
Leroux will be at the helm of a handful of the best high school golfers in the world, including three individuals ranked in the top 10 according to juniorgolfscoreboard.com. Team USA, who has a tournament-high seven titles, will try to clinch its first championship since 2005.
Leroux says he is simply honored and grateful for such a unique and valuable opportunity.
"It's pretty neat to be able to wear the United States flag on your uniform and compete," Leroux said. "It's the closest I'll ever get to being an Olympian and representing our country. It makes you feel very patriotic."
After being named a 2013 Dave Williams National Coach of the Year Finalist, Leroux was one of a handful of nominees considered to lead the 2014 World Junior Team. The decorated coach credits the achievement to his talented squad at Mizzou and the entire Tiger golf program.
"The dedication, determination and hard work of all the guys that have played during my tenure and even before helped our program excel and made this opportunity possible for me, the golf team and the University of Missouri," Leroux said.
Leroux plans on taking advantage of the opportunity to both teach young athletes the game he loves and learn from them.
"I'm excited to be working with these junior athletes," Leroux said. "It's about sharing knowledge and growing the game of golf. I want to help them with tournament strategy and tournament preparation and give them a jumpstart on their college career."
Meanwhile, Leroux can acquire ideas and techniques from other coaches and players from around the world and bring them back to Mizzou. In the end though, Leroux says there are higher expectations than just benefitting from one another. The expectation is to go into Japan and win the World Junior Golf Tournament for the United States.