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Printer-Friendly ModeGolf team ready for GLIAC championship run
August 25, 2005 —
Andy Bethune believes his team is poised to be one of the best in the GLIAC this season. The fourth-year head golf coach is returning almost his entire roster, creating a blend of talent and experience he believes will help them compete for a GLIAC championship.
"I think we're certainly one of the better teams in the conference," Bethune says. "This is one of the best teams we've had since I've been coaching."
One of the key players for this year's team will be junior Adam Miller. Miller earned Honorable Mention All-GLIAC last year, on his way to a team best overall scoring average of 75.61.
His play was consistent in the GLIAC as well, as he tallied the same average in league play. Miller tied for medalist honors at last season's Ferris State Invitational and had six other top-ten finishes throughout the season.
Sophomore Sean Rutherford was also named Honorable Mention All-GLIAC last season and bested Miller's league average by a tenth of a point at 75.5.
For the season, Rutherford averaged a score of 76.64 and finished third in the GLIAC Championships with a three round total of 228.
Senior Adam Haswell, junior Joe Beyer and sophomore Mike King are also expected to help lead this year's team.
"I don't think we have any guys on our team that we don't expect to do very well," Bethune says. "From a talent standpoint, there are a lot of similarities."
The team will hurt from the loss of senior Darren Husse, who missed the second half of last season with a back injury and will miss the entire upcoming season.
Despite the loss of Husse, the team still has plenty of talent and experience. But in the end, Bethune believes the outcome of the team's season will depend on consistent play.
"What we have to do consistently is play consistently," he said. "We have guys that are capable of shooting scores that can win."
And winning is something Bethune knows the team is capable of, and says they will compete with the better teams in the GLIAC such as Ferris State, Grand Valley and Wayne State.
"All four teams are talented with almost no separation," he says. "It's a matter of who wants to go out and get it and who's confident they can get it."
But the Cardinals believe they have what it takes this season to do just that.
"I think that our strength has to be an attitude of winning and doing it the right way," Bethune says. "Golf is a game you have to take a shot at a time so you have to take the season a day at a time."