Ed Marlowe
Staff writer
After a long winter layoff, men’s golf is back in full swing.
Coach Eddie Hunt said his players are fired up and ready to get the second half of the season under way.
“We’re really looking forward to the spring,” he said. “I don’t think we had as good a fall as we hoped we would.”
However, out of the team struggles, Hunt said two clubhouse leaders emerged for the Racers: juniors Hunter York and Patrick Newcomb.
Newcomb finished a stellar fall showing with a third place finish at the Kiawah Classic in Charleston, S.C., on Nov. 1.
“After his fall, I don’t think there is any doubt he’s among the best in the OVC,” Hunt said. “It’s possible he’ll be in Player of the Year talks.”
York played consistent golf throughout the entire semester, frequently finishing as the Racers’ second-best golfer and provides another strong weapon in the Racer arsenal.
“I want to stress how well Hunter York has played,” Hunt said. “He played a good fall, and he has emerged as a leader for this team.”
Aside from stalwarts Newcomb and York, Hunt said the remaining three starting spots are up for grabs, perhaps until the OVC Championship in April.
“I’ve got five or six players who are going to battle it out until the conference tournament,” he said. “We’ll see what the spring season holds for us.”
Hunt also locked in three recruits during the early signing period in November, further shaping the future of Racer golf as they will don the blue and gold in Fall 2012.
Jared Gosser, from Russell Springs, Ky., is a five-year letterman from Russell Springs High School. The younger brother of Murray State junior golfer Dustin Gosser, Jared was a 20-time champion and 2011 Musselman-Dunne Tour Player of the Year.
Local talent Daniel Harper, from Murray, represented Calloway County High School in the 2011 Kentucky State Tournament, placing fifth while carding the only under-par round in the tournament. Harper also placed third at the Kentucky Invitational Tournament and was fourth at the KHSAA Region-I Tournament.
Duncan McCormick, from Morganfield, Ky., had an incredible high school career at Union County High School, garnering the runner-up nod for Kentucky Mr. Golf in 2011. McCormick finished in the top-10 in the Kentucky State Tournament, champion of the KHSAA Region II Tournament and has claimed five individual titles.
“I managed to land a good nucleus of kids early in the recruiting period,” Hunt said. “All three may be able to compete early in their freshman year.”
Outside of the OVC Championship, Hunt said the tournament he’s most looking forward to is the Spring Break Invitational, held March 23 through 25 at Fountains Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla.
During the invitational, the Racers will go against some of the best teams in the country, Hunt said, as eight Big Ten schools, Florida State and Northwestern comprise the field.
“I think it’s one of the best college golf tournaments in the country,” he said.
The Racers begin the 2012 spring season in the Samford Intercollegiate March 4 through 6 in Hoover, Ala., at Hoover Country Club.