Barry men begin drive for third national title in row
Barry University’s men’s golf team will start making its drive for a third consecutive Division II national collegiate championship when it opens up its post-holiday tournament schedule on Monday at the Titan Invitational at Suntree Country Club in Melbourne.
The Bucs played four tournaments before the holidays, winning one, the Guy Harvey Invitational at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens. They now head into the post-holiday schedule with seven more tournaments before the postseason begins.
Barry coach Jimmy Stobs believes the second half of the regular-season tournament schedule will go better than the first half.
And there’s one good reason for that: No. 1 golfer and defending National Player of the Year Adam Svensson will be back after sitting out much of the fall season to play in international and national events, including the prestigious World Amateur Championship.
Now, with Svensson’s return, the team is at full strength, with other starters Mike Anderson, a sophomore, junior Nico Cavero, sophomore Mario Beltran and senior Berry Joel providing support and depth.
“We used four different starting lineups in the fall,” Stobs said. “Now, we will be at full strength. If we don’t do anything crazy, we will be very difficult to beat.”
That might sound like bragging, but you need to factor in that it’s coming from an extremely low-key, even-keeled coach.
However, Stobs did add one cautionary not, “You need to remember golf is golf, and it’s not very predictable.”
The last team to win three NCAA Division II golf titles was South Carolina Aiken, which did it from in 2004 to 2006.
Of his team’s quest for three titles in a row, Stobs gave his game plan: “We work on the mind more than the body,” he said.
GOLDEN WINS
Andy Golden of Davie has been having great fun if not earning great money on the Minor League Golf Tour in South Florida.
A week ago, Golden won the MLGT event at Eagle Trace in Coral Springs, winning a three-player playoff by defeating Jimmy Lytle of Ocean Ridge and Ben Silverman of Ontario with a birdie on the second extra hole.
Golden shot a 1-under-par 71 in the final round.
Lytle was eliminated with bogey on the par-4 first hole of the playoff, then Golden on the second hole made a six-foot birdie putt for the victory. In regulation, Golden put together five birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.
How much did he win? About $700, bringing his career earnings to $23,193.
Obviously, this is not the PGA Tour with its $1-million-plus winners’ purses, but it happily keeps Golden and others doing what they like doing — playing competitive golf.
THAT’S A FACT, JACK
One of the stranger sponsorship deals ever was just finalized with an LPGA player.
Brooke Pancake ignored her last name and signed a contract to sponsor, of all things, Waffle House.
Her fellow players quickly started calling her Brooke Waffle and WaHo.
Brooke, an Alabama All-American from Chattanooga, Tennessee, confessed, “I’d definitely order waffles over pancakes.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2015 at 7:57 PM with the headline "Barry men begin drive for third national title in row."