Northwestern University Athletics
22nd-Ranked Wildcats Begin Spring Season Sunday
2/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 3, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's men's golf head coach Pat Goss is understandably excited about his team's outlook for 2004.
After another strong fall season, the Wildcats enter the spring ranked 22nd in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin index. After that success, Goss believes a 10th straight NCAA postseason appearance and the fifth national championship trip since he took over at NU are within his team's grasp.
"With the players that we have, we should be able to contend for the Big Ten Championship and be able to finish top 10 at the NCAA championship," says Goss, now in his eighth year at NU. "Those have always been our standards and those standards have not changed."
With a Wildcat lineup that has the ability to shoot low from top to bottom, there is reason to be optimistic. "I've never coached a team with this much depth," says Goss. "All of our players will be challenging for lineup spots during the year, and ultimately that competition within the team will force everyone to continue to get better."
That depth showcased itself for Northwestern during a solid fall campaign. Four different golfers placed in the top four of each fall event. NU also finished runner-up as a team for the second consecutive year at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational.
"We proved we have individual talent and players who are not scared to shoot low numbers," says Goss. One player who has a proven track record of shooting low numbers for Northwestern finds himself in a familiar position atop the Wildcat lineup again this season. Senior Tom Johnson, a two-time All-Big Ten and honorable mention All-America selection, is on pace to finish second on Northwestern's all-time scoring average list behind Luke Donald.
Johnson posted six top-three finishes with one victory a year ago, and finished the season with the fifth best single-season scoring average in school history (71.62). After a slow start, he turned in another two top-five showings to close out the fall.
"Tom is one of the top talents I've ever coached at Northwestern," says Goss. "When you watch Tom play golf and evaluate his game, you can't really find any weaknesses. He has been a very solid national player and now he just needs to take that step to become a premier national player."
Challenging Johnson are three other Wildcats who posted top-four finishes in the fall: Casey Strunk, Dillon Dougherty and Bryson Young.
A senior, Strunk played the best golf of his Northwestern career during the fall. He led the Wildcats with a 72.83 scoring average and two top-10 finishes, including a career-best second-place showing at the Windon Memorial.
"With some of his finishes this fall, Casey has put himself in a position where he should be All-Big Ten this year," says Goss. "Casey is also very committed to our success as a team and is our verbal and non-verbal leader. I'm very excited to see his continued progress this spring."
Dougherty, a junior, also turned in the best efforts of his NU career during the fall season, finishing in the top-11 twice. At the season opening Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational, he turned in a career-best fourth place showing on "the hardest course we play in college," according to Goss.
"Dillon is one of the hardest workers on our team," says Goss. "His game has improved to where he is longer and he is striking the ball much better. Once he develops some consistency his results will really flourish."
Adding his name to the list of Wildcat golfers who had breakout fall seasons is Young, a sophomore. He proved he could go low, posting a 7-under 207 to finish second in the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. Young also finished the fall with Northwestern's second best scoring average (73.00).
"Bryson has improved tremendously," says Goss. "He is not scared to make birdies and not scared to shoot low numbers. When he gets going, he is really tough to beat."
Hot on the heels of that trio is senior T.C. Ford. A 2003 GCAA All-America scholar, Ford shot a career-best round of 67 in last fall's Alister MacKenzie, and figures to be a major cog in NU's team success. "T.C. is at a point in his career where now is when we expect him to make that jump into being a contributor in the sense of top-10 finishes and competing to win tournaments," says Goss.
"That is where we need him to ultimately end up for the team to be successful."
Providing constant in-house competition that Goss believes will be necessary to push Northwestern back over the hump of postseason success are three newcomers: sophomore Scott Weber and freshmen Dave Merkow and Chris Wilson.
"Scott is going to be somebody who will be a mainstay in our lineup, whether it be this year or down the road," says Goss. "I would not be surprised to see Dave and Chris in our lineup this year, either. We expect them to be in that position."
With a lineup where every player has proven he can shoot low scores, the Wildcats are focused on translating that depth into regaining postseason success.
"We have gone two years without winning the Big Ten Championship and are a few years removed from the NCAA Championships," says Goss. "We have sustained that sort of success during the regular season, and now we need to get it back in the postseason."
Northwestern's golf team will not be satisfied with just another successful season. They expect to again be a factor in the race for the Big Ten and the NCAA championships.
