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The Rams, the defending CAA Champions, will begin their quest for a repeat when they kick off their spring season Mar. 1-2 at UNC Wilmington’s Seahawk Intercollegiate at the Country Club of Landfall. The Black and Gold will enter the spring ranked 49th nationally by Golfweek. VCU returns all five starters from last year’s squad that erased a 12-stroke deficit on the final day to capture its first CAA crown since 2002. The Rams also finished 12th at the NCAA Northeast Regional. Few teams can match the dearth of experience on the Rams’ roster. VCU boasts three accomplished seniors, Lanto Griffin (pictured, right), Rafael Campos and Vincent Nadeau (pictured, bottom left). Griffin is the reigning CAA Player of the Year, Campos has a pair of All-CAA awards to his credit and Nadeau has collected a pair of collegiate victories with the Rams. VCU’s three-pronged senior attack will likely dictate the course of the 2010 season. “Those three seniors are going to be at the top of the lineup and you need to expect that they’re going to be the leaders,” VCU Coach Matt Ball, in his 11th season with his alma mater, said. “All of them should have some really good rounds for us at times, and all of them, hopefully will be a little more consistent with those good rounds.” Junior Mark Jargren will look to improve upon a 2009 campaign that included a pair of top five finishes and a personal-best scoring average of 74.34. Jargren and Griffin tied for third place at the last year’s CAA Championships at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga. A native of Helsingborg, Sweden, Jargren gives VCU a formidable top four. Jargren developed some swing flaws over the summer and suffered through a disappointing fall season. However, Ball believes the junior has solved his issues and is primed for a solid spring. The talented trio of junior Hunter Townsend, a transfer from the University of Richmond, and sophomores Evan Boyer and Chase Sargent round out a deep roster for VCU. Boyer delivered a dream performance when he fired 75-75-71 (221) to place seventh overall at the 2009 CAA Championships. Sargent started four of five tournaments for the Rams this fall and booked a 14th place finish, including a second-round 68, at the Maryland Intercollegiate. As a sophomore at Richmond, Townsend shot a 4-under 209 (75-66-68) to claim individual medalist honors at the 2007 Georgetown Hoya Invitational.
“We didn’t play that well in the fall,” Ball said. “Our damage control was pretty good in a really good schedule. This spring, I’m really hoping that we can step it up as we did last year and have some ‘go’ and play some good, really solid golf with some low scores and just try and go out there and make it known that we belong in the NCAA Tournament and we’re prepared to make some kind of a run.” An unusually cold and snowy winter in Richmond has wreaked havoc on VCU’s training, but the players have been shuttling down to Williamsburg, Va. to stay sharp. “They’ve done all they can do,” Ball said. “Are we ready yet? No. Are we getting there? Yes. Hopefully, we’ll be able to go down to [the Seahawk Intercollegiate] and play some solid golf and generate some confidence for the next couple of weeks.” With any luck, the Rams will peak at just the right time, as they did last year. In 2009, VCU delivered a virtuoso performance at the Palisades Intercollegiate at the Palisades Country Club in Charlotte, N.C. just days before heading to the CAA Tournament. The 2010 CAA Championships will be held April 16-18 at Homestead’s Upper Cascades in Hot Springs, Va. |
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The VCU Golf team had better get used to the target on its back, because the rest of the Colonial Athletic Association will be gunning for them this spring.
The Rams played a rugged fall schedule that included plenty of ups and downs. VCU placed second at the Maryland Intercollegiate, weathering a field that included CAA rivals Old Dominion, Towson and William & Mary, as well as highly-ranked squads from N.C. State and Virginia. The Rams fell to North Carolina by a single stroke. Additionally, VCU took fifth at the Brickyard Collegiate Championship, defeating top 30 teams from North Florida, Georgia Tech and Florida State. Despite those finishes, Ball is looking for more out of this veteran group.All rights reserved.
