Monday, August 24, 2009
The Kansas Jayhawks men’s golf team is preparing for a new season and with the loss of a few key seniors, the team’s success will be determined mostly by Nate Barbee, Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, junior.
“Nate is my rock,” Kit Grove, assistant golf coach, said. “If you drive by Alvamar, you’ll find Nate’s car in the parking lot. He is the first player there in the morning to practice his game, and he is the last golfer to leave.”
Barbee holds 73.2 career scoring average and Grove is hoping that Barbee can maintain and even improve on that role.
“Nate is the staple number one of the team,” Ian Anson, Surrey, England, sophomore said. “Hopefully he can continue to play well, and if the rest of the team improves, we should have a good season.”
Grove said Barbee outworks everybody and is motivated by his goal of playing on the PGA tour.
“I want to win a few tournaments this year individually and hopefully that will make the team have more success too,” Barbee said, “If I play well, I’m capable of winning some tournaments and we have a great shot at regionals.”
Grove said that in a game where even the best players lose most of the time, he wants Barbee to improve his mental approach to the sport.
“Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world, and he only wins about 24 percent of the time,” Grove said. “My players need to work on their maturity and be able to mentally handle the weeks when you play bad.”
The key seniors that left the team were Will Koelbel and Andrew Storm. Koelbel played in every tournament for the last two years. Storm graduated just as his coach starting to notice him reaching his potential.
“Strormy was really starting to fit the mode of a college golfer at the end of last season,” Grove said. “I wish I had him to play another year.” Although he will not be able to play in tournaments anymore for the Jayhawks, he will be able to contribute to the team as a student manager.
“It’ll be great to still have him around this year,” Grove said. “He has a good knowledge of the game.”
For the first time in coach Grove’s tenure at Kansas, the team is holding an open tryout for walk-on players because of the lack of scholarship players. “I would love for a walk-on to come in and produce for this team,” Grove said. “Maybe a walk-on could light a fire for this team and push some of the veterans to keep earning their spots. We need some inter-squad competition. You never know when you’re gonna find a diamond in the rough.”
Despite losing some key seniors and having walk-on players fill out the roster the team has high expectations for this season.
Ian Anson said he has the same goals as Nate Barbee,
“I want to improve individually on my play last year, and we should make it to regionals,” Anson said.
Grove also has high expectations for his team.
“We grossly underachieved last year and now we have to outwork some people,” Grove said. “It’s time for the players to man up and perform. We play in a pretty darn strong golf conference with Texas A&M returning as national champions, and Texas and Oklahoma State being perennial powerhouses. I want to be right up there with them. I want us to be a top-25 program.”
— — Edited by Betsy Cutcliff
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