Golf team last at C-USA

By Yan Digilov     5/15/08 7:00pm

For the golf team, the Conference USA Championships are turning out to be a tough nut to crack. For the second year in a row, the Owls rounded out the bottom of the pack at the C-USA Championship, finishing 11th out of as many teams in Texarkana, Arkansas on April 20-22. Impressive performances from freshman Michael Whitehead and junior Kyle Kelley were not enough to keep the team from sliding into the 11th spot, but Rice's young stars left room for a promise of a brighter future alongside their room for improvement.The Owls needed a first place finish to extend their postseason, but after a tumultuous regular season in which they cracked the top 10 four times, they would have been satisfied with at least a solid effort. In addition, Rice finished ahead of C-USA rivals Tulsa and University of Houston at the River Landing Intercollegiate the week prior to the conference tournament, so coach Drew Scott and his team were optimistic.

Unfortunately, the same problems that have plagued them the whole season kept the team from performing well as a whole. Whitehead finished the tournament with both a hole-in-one and an eagle in the final round join Kelley in 17th place, but no other player could contribute to a complete effort: Senior Bobby Thomure finished second to last, with only his fellow senior, Addison Awe, behind him.

"Reasonably, it would have been nice to have finished in the middle of the pack," Scott said. "My two oldest players let the whole team down. It is embarrassing."

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While fatigue from the lengthy season can be blamed for the poor performance in the conference championship, the team faced many obstacles from the beginning of the year.

Early on the team was down to only seven players when sophomore Zach Wilson elected to leave the team and junior Erik Peterson was sidelined with an injury. With only seven men competing for five traveling spots, the players had less competitive motivation. Additionally, freshmen and sophomores played almost every tournament.

However, the same circumstances that acted as drawbacks for this season may prove to be assets for next year, as the young players have often provided the highlights for the team. Sophomore Chris Brown has posted three top-20 finishes this season, and sophomore Michael Buttacavoli, who was recently named to the C-USA All-Academic team, has maintained the second best stroke average on the squad, 74.08 per round.

The team received an extra piece of good news this week when incoming freshman Ben Thorseth finished second in the Texas State 5A Championship. Thorseth will be graduating from Strake Jesuit High School in Houston, Texas and joining the Owls next fall.

"We need youth on this team to always push the older guys," Scott said. "Otherwise you get stagnant."

The addition of Robert Burrow, a transfer from Rhodes College, should provide the needed competition and motivation. After his freshman year, Burrow led Rhodes with a 73.3 stroke per round average, posted three top 10 finishes and won the Rhodes College Men's Fall Classic. Burrow's combination of youth and experience will prove valuable for his new team.

Whitehead noted that the new additions should give the Owls a completely new look and fill both coaches and players with hope for a competitive team next year.

"We will definitely see a vast improvement over this year," Whitehead said. "I am hoping everybody comes in hungry and ready to play.

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