New Faces to Lead Bears into the Fall [2009 Men's Golf Preview]

Adam Hunt
Sports Columnist / Reporter

More of the same is most certainly the plan for the Mercer Men’s Golf team this Fall.
Last year was a groundbreaking one for Coach Andrew Tredway and his team, culminating in a program-first NCAA Regional berth.

But with the loss of three influential Seniors in Ryan Peters, Ryan Blackburn and Bill Jones, The Bears’ incoming Freshmen will have to rapidly make their mark if such success is to be repeated.

Jones, in particular, will leave a sizeable hole to be filled given that he featured in every tournament and sported a team-low 73.77 scoring average as the team raced to its highest-ever national ranking (86th) and its best conference finish (third) since 1992.

However, Coach Tredway has proved himself to be an astute recruiter in previous seasons so there is no reason why 2009-2010 should be any different.
Four newcomers have been added to the roster: Thomas Holmes, Matt Kocolowski, William Meason and Alex Street.

Holmes is a local favorite, hailing from Macon, and will have vital experience of playing on the team’s home courses such as The Brickyard which plays host to The Brickyard Collegiate Championships in October.
Meason is another Georgia resident, this time from Alpharetta, who recorded five top-ten finishes on the Southeastern Junior Golf tour last year, including a fourth-place finish at the Hampton Club Junior Classic.

Tredway believes the addition of Meason will have a significant impact on his growing team. Speaking on MercerBears.com he commented: “He has a great foundation, a great short game and is a pure putter. With some work, he could be one of the top players in the A-Sun and in the country.”
Kocolowski, of Apopka, Florida, has been busy fine-tuning his game in the off-season and placed an impressive 20th at the prestigious Cardinal Amateur at The Cardinal Golf & Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina last month.

The Cardinal Amateur is a traditionally high-class event consisting of 78 players, half from the college level and half from mid-amateurs. Many former competitors have gone on to appear on the PGA Tour such as Allen Doyle, Paul Claxton and David Duval.

Finally, Tredway has added Street from his own stomping ground of Medford, Oregon.
Street has found plenty of success while playing for St. Mary’s High School in the Pacific Northwest. He won the District 6 championship in both 2007 and 2008, while taking third place at the 3A Oregon state championship in 2007.


Tredway feels Street will prove to be something of a dark horse and enthused: “This kid is totally under the radar and I think there are going to be a lot of coaches on the West Coast kicking themselves the next four years. Having grown up in the same area as Alex, I know exactly how difficult it is to get noticed in the Rogue Valley. When I saw his golf swing, his work ethic, and heard from some of my own friends, signing Alex was a no-brainer.”

The Orange and Black certainly know what it feels like to work hard and this season will require nothing different.

Tredway and his players all buy in to the philosophy of effort in equals rewards out. Hopefully this will stand them in just as good stead as it did last time around.