"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Stan Crawley

June 29, 2004

After watching his super sophomore, Bryce Ledford, win back-to-back championships—the Red Bud Invitational and the Don Malarkey Open Championship—UTC assistant coach Mark Guhne got even more excited about the future of the Mocs' program.

During the Malarkey Open at the Signal Mountain Golf and Country Club this week, Guhne made a gutsy statement about his goal, "My whole job is to make this program great.''

Guhne will be Reed Sanderlin's assistant again this fall, but when Sandlerlin retires after this season, Guhne will take over the program.

"We're very excited about the future of our team,'' Guhne said. "And when Coach Sanderlin retires, he's still going to stay and help me with some things. He has done a great job getting our scholarships endowed, and he will remain involved. I'm excited about that.''

Ledford, UTC senior Thomas Smith and incoming freshman Gordon Strother, participated in the Malarkey Open against amateurs and professionals. Ledford played on a state championship team at McCallie, and qualified this spring for the Chattanooga Classic.

"We're still in a rebuilding process, but we have a really good shot at being good,'' Ledford said. "Coach Guhne is doing a lot of good things.

"Our ultimate goal would be to get to the national level, but first we have to win conference and regionals. We have a lot of talent. It's just a matter of everybody playing well together as a team.''

Said Guhne, "Bryce is starting to develop his confidence. He looks around now when he gets to a golf tournament to see who he has to beat. He feels like he has a chance to win any tournament. He is really developing.''

Smith, who is from Harriman, Tenn., will be a senior this year. He came to UTC last year from junior college and had a good season.

"We are still rebuilding, but I think the future looks really good,'' Smith said. "Coach Guhne has been a great asset.

"For the next two years, we're really going to be strong. Right now, I'm thinking about red-shirting this year and then playing my final year.''

Said Guhne, "Thomas had a really good season last year with two top fives. He's a very good tournament player. He always seems to put a good round together.''

Young players like Strother, who comes from St. Simon, Ga., could help elevate the Mocs to a new level. He won the Georgia 5A state championship last year. Strother and Smith will play in the prestigious Rice Plantation Tournament later this summer in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.

"Strother has a lot of game,'' Guhne said. "Really, he's unbelievable. He gets great instruction at Sea Island, and at age 18, he already knows how to play the game. I'm really excited about having him.''

Said Strother, "I think UTC has a good chance to be really good. I liked the players, the coaches and we get to play a lot of great courses. I like the city. It's really a good fit for me.

"I think we have a chance to be as good as anybody in the conference this year. Right now, though, I'm just hoping to qualify for the tournaments. But there isn't any reason why we shouldn't be very good.''

Another incoming freshman, Anthony Reale from Glenville, W. Va., is rated in the top five among all amateur golfers in West Virginia.

With players like Ledford, Smith, Strother and Reale, Guhne and Sanderlin are doing a good job with the rebuilding process. It could get even better on July 1 when the coaches can talk to recruits again. Some more good players are talking about coming to UTC, and if they do, Guhne's goal could eventually come true.

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)

*** Feedback ***
click here to give us your comments about this article,
 or suggest a subject for a future article