2010 Men's Golf Season Preview

J. Andrew Lockwood
BearZone Columnist


This fall, men’s golf coach Andrew Tredway will have a vastly different roster than in years past. Only four players from the 2009 season return, sophomores Thomas Holmes, John Gregory Joseph, Alex Street and Matt Kocolowski. On the eight player roster, the two oldest players on the roster, juniors Josh Cone and Stefan Labuschagne are transfers. Mookie DeMoss and Michael Hirthler join the team as the lone freshman.

While golf fans will get used to the new faces, Tredway will hope that his team of fresh faces can produce. Aided by ex-player Ryan Blackburn, the head coach will take his best five to another season of challenging tournaments spanning across seven states.

Speaking of expectations, Tredway commented, “I can’t really say what I expect from the team this year. I know we are really focused on the process of putting together good rounds and preparing as best we can for each event. I know on paper we are much better than last year, but we still have to tee it up."
Tredway went on to add, "Adding Stefan LaBuschagne and Josh Cone as juniors will be a big help. They are great competitors and are eager to get some experience at this level. Mookie DeMoss is looking really good as a true freshman and has really improved a lot in the past year."

With experience coming at a premium, Matt Kocolowski should be a mainstay in the lineup, playing in 10 tournaments last season and posting a personal best seventh place finish in the Rees Jones Intercollegiate tournanament. His 75.8 stroke average per 18 holes is the best returning average on the team and Tredway will look to the sophomore from Apopka, Florida to lead the Bears in the fall.

Thomas Holmes and Alex Street also have experience with a combined 11 tournaments worth of experience. Holmes, a Macon-native, made steady improvement last season and Alex Street played sparingly last season as he works to improve his game. Southern Mississippi transfer John Gregory Joseph played in four tournaments a year ago, but made strides in his game, finishing 2009 with a 76.1 stroke average.

Looking to build upon the team’s fifth place A-Sun tournament finish at Chateau Elan in Braselton, Georgia, the team will make four appearances in the fall campaign at the Invitational at the Ocean Course (Kiawah Island, South Carolina), VCU Shootout at the Hermitage Country Club (Manakin-Sabot, Virginia), the hometown Brickyard Collegiate, and the Memphis Intercollegiate at the Colonial Country Club (Memphis, Tennessee). The spring includes farther road trips to Ponte Verda Beach (FL), Jacksonville (FL), Bandon (OR), Greensboro (GA), and Charlotte (NC), before ending at the Chateau Elan A-Sun Tournament in late April.

Coach Tredway hopes the challenging schedule correlates to results throughout the season, saying, "Our schedule this year is one of the best in the nation. We have a good mixture of events this year that should really test us. We need to make sure we get as many people out to the Brickyard Collegiate Oct 8-10 here in Macon. That's a key event for us and the more people that come support us, the better chance we will have at getting some big wins."