What age were you when you decided you wanted to play college golf? 14
How hard have you worked to earn the opportunity? I’ve worked my hardest to achieve this goal over any other goal.
Why did you choose Presbyterian College? I like the school, coach, and the academic possibilities I will be entitled to after graduation.
As a freshman, do you think you can make the starting five? Of course
What are you going to do to make the starting five? I’ll stay positive and continue to work hard on my golf game.
Do you have any specific goals for college golf? I would like to eventually win a college golf tournament.
What advice would you give a junior golfer hoping to play college golf? Set goals and work as hard as you can to achieve them. Don’t ever let anybody tell you you can’t reach your goals.
Travis Cashion
What age were you when you decided you wanted to play college golf? 13
How hard have you worked to earn the opportunity? I’ve put my whole life into it. I spent all of my free time during the last four years practicing and playing
Why did you choose USC Beaufort? I like the coach, campus, facilities, and they have a pretty good team.
As a freshman, do you think you can make the starting five? Yes
What are you going to do to make the starting five? Pretty much the same routine and habits that I’ve had for the past few years. I don’t want to get caught up in the college life and lose focus on my goals.
Do you have any specific goals for college golf? I want to win at least one tournament as a freshman.
What advice would you give a junior golfer hoping to play college golf? Set goals and dreams for yourself and work hard to reach them.
Brooks Massey
What age were you when you decided you wanted to play college golf? I've always wanted to play in the next level of golf. When I started playing on my high school golf team in tenth grade, I knew it was something I wanted to do forever. Golf is my passion, and George has helped me to decide that I wanted to play in college by pushing me to be the best that I can and helping me get so much better.
How hard have you worked to earn the opportunity? I have worked very hard to get the chance to play college golf. Every day that I am not playing golf or hitting balls at the golf course, I am at George's facility working on my game. I have really tried to get better over the past year to earn this opportunity and I believe it shows.
Why did you choose Newberry College? I chose Newberry because a man at my church recommended it to me. I am Lutheran so I thought it would be a good place for me.I thought it would be a good place for me to play golf and get a good undergraduate education. When I met Coach McCants, that verified my decision because he is one of the nicest men I have ever met and I think he will be a wonderful golf coach.
As a freshman, do you think you can make the starting five? If I keep on improving at the rate I have been improving since I started playing just a few years ago, I think I have a good chance of making the starting five. There are some good players on the team, so I will have to work very hard to get this chance. Even if I don't make the starting five, it will be a great experience.
What are you going to do to make the starting five? I will practice and play the game I love every second I have the chance to. I will be at George's frequently to try and better my game.
Do you have any specific goals for college golf? I just hope to play a little bit my freshman year. Then I want to be on the starting five by my sophomore year. I'd like to be very successful and by working hard, that should be a reachable goal.
What advice would you give a junior golfer hoping to play college golf? Just practice every chance you get and get a good teacher like George to guide you through your journey.
Chuck Moore
What age were you when you decided you wanted to play college golf? Well I always have had the dream of playing professional golf, but not until my tenth grade year did I realize how much I wanted it and how much I needed to practice. I realized the goal a little later than most that college golf is what I wanted to do. I sort of thought about it and thought it would be easy but I never really gave it much though until tenth grade and I didnt know how hard it was to complete the dream. It hit me when I was benched the final round of the state tournament my tenth grade year, and that is when I realized I wanted to play and what it would take to play. But to be honest, ask George, I was a late bloomer in realizing my goal.
How hard have you worked to earn the opportunity? I have worked tremedously hard. Last January, over a year ago, Mr. Bryan and I sat down and discussed what it would take. For six months straight I went to the facility once or twice a week, and practiced four to five hours a day away from George to improve my game. Being a late advocate of the game, I was way behind and had to bust things to make my dream come true. I wish I would have started earlier, but I am thrilled to see that my 30-35 hour weeks paid off and my goal was met.
Why did you choose Wofford? I chose Wofford because: 1. They have an outstanding academic program, and if professional golf doesn't work out, I want to become an orthodontist and Wofford puts me on a great track 2. I like the golf program. They are Division 1 and they play nice golf courses. The coach, Vic Lipscomb, is an extremely nice guy and he made me feel like I was welcome and that Wofford would be a great fit. 3. My best friend Mark Joye is going to Wofford, so being able to continue my golf career with him is very exciting. And I like the campus at Wofford. It is small and the girls look good, Ha.
As a freshman, do you think you can make the starting five? If I didnt think I could make the starting five then I wouldn't play golf. I believe in my abilities as a golfer, and I'm on that team for a reason, and that is to play. I feel like on any given day I can play with the best that Wofford or anyone else has to offer so, yes, the starting five is something I believe in. In fact, my goal is not starting five but to play number one. I believe in the stuff Mr. Bryan and I are working on, and I feel like if I continue working at the pace I am that the starting five should be a very obtainable goal.
What are you going to do to make the starting five? I'm going to continue the same training and practicing habits that I have developed in White Rock. George's ideas got me to this position, so I will continue them at Wofford, and I feel like that will propel me to start and contend in college tournaments.
Do you have any specific goals for college golf? I have many goals in college golf ranging from short term to long term. In the short term, I want to play in all tournaments and contend in a majority as a freshman. By the time sophmore season rolls around, I want my name near the top of the leaderboard and on top by the end of the final round. I want to be named an All-American and Southern Conference Player of the Year and I want to lead Wofford to an NCAA Championship birth, something they haven't done in sometime, if ever. So those are some goals that I have thought about and want to achieve and I feel like they are available with the training and practicing techniques developed at White Rock.
What advice would you give a junior golfer hoping to play college golf? To juniors who want to play college golf, I suggust they just play all the time and develop a love for the game. Golf is a game that will always bring you back to play more and I think that playing all the time with your buddies is something that really helped me develop a passion for the game. Playing is more important than practicing at a young age because is helps the kids develop a love for the fun of the game. This will inspire them to go seek lessons which I strongly advise. After the passion is obtained, then I would suggest lessons to shave off those few strokes. Once a kid sees the strokes diminish, then their passion grows. I can not express the importance of the short game enough. Over my hard work this past year, I developed a short game that was missing from my golf game. The short game can get you out of bad spots and save many stokes. It did that for me this summer as it complimented my long game to culminate into low scores. Also, I think it is important to learn how to hit it long. I think at a young age, it is important to sacrifice accuracy for length because learning the habit of hitting it long is such an advantage as I have figured out. Learn how to hit it long because it is easier to hit it straighter than longer and length is so important with today's courses. And lastly, I would suggust that kids just have fun with the game. Remember, it is only a game and it will always be a game, so just have fun playing and realize how lucky you are to be playing golf when you could be doing something like working a job. I've played my best golf when I just go out to have fun and it is crucial to the development of a junior's game.
Collegiate Athlete Interviews: Freshman Success
Matt McDuffie
Matt McDuffie is a freshman, or plebe, at West Point Military Academy in New York.
He played high school golf at Spring Valley High.
Why did you decide to attend West Point? "I picked West Point because you can get a world class education and I want to be in the army and serve my country and get the education in addition to the opportunity to play golf."
Is there anything cool about playing golf at West Point? It is cool because at West Point you can get out of marching [for golf practice] but what’s really cool is the team bonding and how close you get to your teammates; Up here it's really all you have. Also, it’s nice to get away because our golf facility is off-campus so we can get off-campus for awhile [which is nice] for freshman because we can’t get off campus at all since we’re restricted. It's also cool to be able to call upperclassman by their first name. But being part of the team and playing golf is probably the best.
What is interesting about playing golf at West Point, as opposed to playing at other schools? One interesting fact about West Point golf is that we get to go to practice golf in P.T. (physical training) clothes, like sweats and t-shirts. In the winter, it snows all the time so we have to go to a driving range where they have heated mats. I remember one time we went to the range with 8 inches of snow on the ground and it was still coming down and we were just hitting balls to get ready for a tournament.
How is the team doing this season? Last fall we tied for first at a tournament with Davidson but we got off to a rough start this season because we don’t get to play and practice as much in the winter because of the weather so we're at a disadvantage at the start of the season.
Wesley Bryan
Was college golf what you expected as a high school senior? Not exactly. The level of competition was a lot higher than I anticipated.
Is being a student athlete fun? It has its ups and downs. When traveling, school becomes a headache, but while on campus, it has its perks.
What is tough about being a freshman? Getting thrown into a different academic environment and having to study more than I did in high school.
How often do you have to miss class for golf? A lot more than high school golf
Are you required to strength train in college? Yes. We are required two days a week to get up at 6 AM and work out as a team, but we are encouraged to train a few additional times each week.
Did you play in any tournaments? Yes If so, how many? 4
What do you like best about being on the golf team? I like all of the different practice and training facilities available.