A team comprised of a second-year head coach and five incoming freshmen probably didn't do much too intimidate the opposition of The University of Memphis golf team. However, that same opposition is staring up at the Tigers a little more than four weeks into the season.
"Having just taken the job last year I knew it was going to be a rebuilding process, getting young talent in here and getting more competition among the team," said head coach Grant Robbins.
That young talent -- in the form of five freshmen - is ranked fourth best in the nation by Golfstat.com, but it would be difficult to find a more successful group.
The Tigers have entered three tournaments and have won every one.With two freshmen winning the individual medallist award in the first two events, the impact of these young guns is evident.
Keven Fortin-Simard, was the freshman hero of the first tournament, the Michigan-Radrick Farms Intercollegiate. Three under par scoring rounds of 71-69-71, lead the tournament and the Tigers to the win.Andy Shiels followed Fortin-Simard's lead as he tallied a tournament score of 8-under-par in the Memphis Intercollegiate. He also took home the individual medallist hardware.
However, credit can never go to just one."These kids have come in and taken advantage of their opportunity," Robbins said. "I sold them on the fact they could come here and get playing time right away."
Instead of spending that time building the Tiger team into a conference contender, they spent it turning Memphis into one of the most successful programs in the nation.
"I wouldn't call it exactly luck, but we try to do a thorough job during the summer time of evaluating talent and finding kids that could be a good fit for us," said Robbins.
Robbins searched for these puzzle pieces all around North America.Networking skills landed Robbins Fortin-Simard when he was recruiting, the talent conduit known as Robbie Greenwell, in Canada at junior championships.
Gavin Aldridge, another promising freshman, was also introduced to Robbins through the recruitment of Greenwell.
"Gavin was friends with Robbie and another kid I was recruiting at the time and just happened to see him play a few times," Robbins said. "He liked his game and thought he had a lot of potential.
Ian Rochester, a local product, is on the outside looking in at the freshman success.
"Unfortunately I haven't contributed to that at all," said Rochester when asked about freshmen ranking fourth. "But, I'm proud of it."
On this team, chemistry and camaraderie are paramount.
"We all push each other to do a lot better," said Rochester. "And we can tell a big difference in each other's games."
They train together, practice together, hang out together, and apparently win together.
"We do just about everything together," said freshman Andy Shiels.Another big role in the success has been team veteran Allan Thomas.
"Allan is a great mentor and we all look up to him," Shiels said. "He's been in our shoes and he knows what to do."
The team travels to Wilmington, North Carolina this week to compete in the Landfall Tradition to try and go win their fourth straight tournament.
"I couldn't imagine being at a better place than this," said Rochester.
