MEN'S GOLF: Irish go south, play moves north
By KEVIN BERCHEOU
Sports Writer
The men's golf team traveled south last weekend, but the same cannot be said for its scores.
After firing a collective total of 913, the Irish finished seventh in the 13-team field at the Pepsi-Cola Invitational. Michigan State's Eric Jorgenson won the event with a 212 total, held at the Tanglewood Resort Golf Course in Texas.
The relatively high team score that placed a staggering 44 shots behind tournament champions Michigan State was reminiscent of last week's rather dismal effort in Florida, but misleading according to John Jasinski, first-year head coach.
"I thought we moved in the right direction," Jasinski said, "The scoring was similar to last week but the conditions were much tougher. The play was really substantially better. It was windy out there and very tough to score well."
However, senior Steve Ratay, who finished 13th to once again led the squad, captured his coachÕs favor for the second week in a row.
"Steve is the only player who really seems to have a handle on getting the ball into the hole," Jasinski said. "The rest really need to make some improvement in their short games."
Ratay agreed.
"Certainly we need to work on our short games," he said. "But I think that's something that comes as the season progresses."
While the unfavorable weather conditions make practice and the task of finding one's short game touch difficult, Jasinski said it's a skill issue as well.
"I think for some of our guys it's a matter of learning some different shots," Jasinski said. "It's a mental thing too. When par is in question you need to have the grit and the skill. It's about having the right mental approach and the confidence in the shot."
While the cumulative scores weren't much better than the ones posted a week ago, the Irish did enjoy some better play from one player. Freshman K.C. Wiseman pieced together three rounds in the 70s to finish tied for 20th in the 74-player field, the best finish of his young collegiate career.
"K.C. played well," Ratay said. "HeÕs one of the guys that's really coming along."
Jasinski sees the team improving in the coming weeks.
"We have a couple more events left before the Big East Championships," he said. "We just need to keep getting better."
Getting better and scoring lower will be the focus of the team when they travel to Lexington, Kentucky to compete in the Johnny Owens Invitational this weekend.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, March 26, 2002
