Northwestern University Athletics
Men's Golf Team Ready to Start Spring Season
2/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 13, 2002
Life after Luke.
That is the reality facing Pat Goss, Northwestern's sixth-year golf coach.
The past four years, Goss had the privilege to coach one of the nation's best collegiate golfers-four-time All-American and 1999 NCAA national champion Luke Donald. Donald also was the first Wildcat to garner three Big Ten Player of the Year honors.
The list of accolades and accomplishments run long and deep for Donald, who was one of 10 finalists for the AAU's prestigious Sullivan Award.
So how will the Wildcats fare in this post-Donald era?
"We've had five sustained years of success with three NCAA top-10 finishes," says Goss, "and I think in the college golf world a lot of people are curious to see what's going to happen now that Luke Donald has moved on to the professional tour.
"With the players we have returning, which include our number two, three, four and five players from our Big Ten championship team, we should continue to do well. In addition, we've added Bjorn Widerstedt, a great player with a proven college track record."
With the talent Goss has returning, there is no reason why the Wildcats cannot continue to contend for the Big Ten title and make appearances at the NCAA Championships.
While Donald has moved on, sophomore Tom Johnson is ready to step in and assume the duties as Northwestern's top golfer. Johnson showed flashes of brilliance a year ago as a freshman, and in the process, earned Ping honorable mention All-America honors. He also was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Johnson averaged 72.6 strokes per round last year and placed third at two events, The Ridges Intercollegiate, his first collegiate event, and The Prestige. During the fall of 2001, he posted a 70.6 average and was Northwestern's top finisher in all four events.
"Tom is as talented a player we've had at Northwestern," says Goss. "The sky is the limit for him for what he can achieve.
"He's tremendously talented and very hard to beat on a difficult golf course. The big thing for Tom is how good a putter he wants to become and how hard he is willing to work. If he does that, he has a legitimate shot at being our next national champion."
While Johnson has a lock on the number-one spot, the rest of the Wildcat lineup is extremely competitive. Numbers two through five are all capable of finishing second to Johnson, or even being the team medalist.
"We're as deep a team, one through five, as I've ever coached," says Goss. "Our fifth man in the lineup can be tremendously competitive."
Emerging with the second-best average from the fall was T.C. Ford. He capped his fall season with back-to-back rounds of 69 at The Prestige. Overall, he finished with a stroke average of 73.3.
"The best thing that happened to us this fall was T.C. Ford's improved play," says Goss. "He has just worked so hard and become a great player for us. The two things that impress me the most recently are, one, his golf when it wasn't as good as it could be, was still very competitive. A year ago, he couldn't do that and that's more important in golf sometimes than your good rounds. Second, he's really made his good golf better."
Senior Chris Thayer, an All-Big Ten and academic All-Big Ten selection last season, is the veteran leader of the 2001-02 Wildcats. While he is talented enough to contend for any tournament the Wildcats participate in, he is perhaps more valuable for his overall contributions to the program.
"Chris really believes in Northwestern golf and wants us to be successful," says Goss. "He embodies everything that our program is about. Chris has the opportunity to jump from being one of the best players in the Big Ten to being a player who is competitive nationally and can contend for All-America honors."
Thayer, who averaged 73.6 strokes per round during the fall, has finished seventh and fourth at the last two Big Ten Championships. He equaled Luke Donald a year ago by firing a team-best 64 in one round of the Fossum Intercollegiate.
Juniors Scott Harrington and Bjorn Widerstedt round out the Wildcats' "starting five." Widerstedt, the transfer from Flagler College, averaged 74.5 strokes during the fall, but Goss is quick to point out that the best is yet to come from the Sweden native.
"Probably by his standards, he had a little bit of a disappointing fall," says Goss. "I have no doubt he's going to be a great Division I college player for us. He just needs to continue making the adjustment to Northwestern and our golf program."
Harrington, who finished third among all NU players a year ago with an average of 74.9, is someone Goss is leaning on this season. He averaged the same mark he set last year, 74.9, during the fall.
"A lot of our success will hinge on how well Scott and Bjorn play," says Goss. "Scott played great for us last year. He is at that point in his career where he can step forward on a consistent basis and be a top player."
Three other players, sophomores Mike Schumaker and Casey Strunk, along with freshman Dillon Dougherty round out the squad.
"I have no doubt that this team is as good a squad I've had at Northwestern," says Goss. "We've got to see who is going to emerge as leaders. We have eight very good players. I have no doubt that by May we'll be where we want to be."
