49er Golf

49ers building for trophy case

In his third year as men's golf coach for the Charlotte 49ers, Jamie Green has established a tradition.

Each time his 49ers bring home a trophy from a tournament -- something they've done with increasing frequency -- Green leaves the hardware at the office of athletics director Judy Rose.

"I'm trying to get a trophy case," said Green, whose office is cluttered with trophies collected by the 49ers through the years.

It's a playful tease but it reinforces the development of Charlotte's golf program, which will be making its second straight appearance in the NCAA tournament this week.

No one is going to confuse Charlotte with Oklahoma State or Florida, but the 49ers are making progress.

They're ranked ninth in the 27-team East Regional which will begin Thursday at Lake Nona in Orlando, Fla., one of three regionals that will feed 10 teams apiece to the NCAA championship May 31-June 3 in Sunriver, Ore.

In a tune-up for the regionals, the 49ers finished second behind No. 1-ranked Georgia on Monday in the Linger Longer Invitational in Greensboro, Ga.

Charlotte has spent most of the season ranked in the top 25 of both major college golf polls, and all five players in its lineup -- Ray Sheedy, Andrew DiBitetto, Trevor Murphy, Matthew Mincer and Jonas Enander Hedin -- earned first-team All-Atlantic 10 honors.

With no seniors, there is reason to believe this year's success is just a start.

"I've been pleasantly surprised with this team," said Green, an assistant coach at Auburn before Rose hired him. "When I talked about goals with our players, I didn't give them numbers to achieve. I let them come up with their goals, and they have a handle on what they want to accomplish."

The 49ers finished in the top five of all 11 events they've played this season, winning four tournaments and finishing second four times.

Their strength is in their depth. All five regulars have scoring averages that rank among the top 11 in school history.

Sheedy's 71.2 average is the best in school history, better than the record set by Mincer, his teammate, two years ago. Both are juniors and the other three are sophomores.

"They're breaking through the glass ceiling scoring-wise," Green said.

Sheedy has had an exceptional season. His scoring average has dropped more than three strokes from his freshman year, largely because of the hours he's spent practicing his chipping and putting.

Murphy won a sudden-death playoff Monday to take medalist honors in the Linger Longer Invitational.

When Green came to the Charlotte program, he first focused on off-course matters, convincing his players to be organized away from golf so they'll be better prepared when they get to the course.

Now Sheedy and Mincer push their coach to get to the course earlier for tournament rounds, and they're usually the last to leave the range when they're practicing.

When the three sophomores arrived last year, they bought in.

"They saw what hard work and organization can do," Green said.

As the 49ers have been more successful, they've been pushed out of their comfort zone. Green now recruits directly against Wake Forest, North Carolina, Georgia and other top programs.

Charlotte also gets invited to better tournaments against better opposition.

The next step is advancing out of the regionals and into the finals.

"By being ranked like we have, it gives you a level of self-awareness that you can get it done," Green said. "You don't get ranked there by accident.

"I tell the guys to focus on the course, not on the golf bags (with other schools' names). It doesn't matter how strong you think they are, focus on the course.

"We can't play defense against anybody. All we can do is play well -- and we have." Ron

Green Jr. Ron

 

Currently in 4th place.

NCAA Division I Men's East Regional

 

A solid fifth place finish and on to the NCAA Championships, May 31-June 3 in Portland, Oregon.

Team Scores
1 Wake Forest, Even, 285-296-283-864
2 Georgia, +1, 284-294-287-865
3 Texas Tech, +9, 289-293-291-873
4 North Carolina, +10, 294-291-289-874
T5 Coastal Carolina, +13, 301-288-288-877
T5 Charlotte, +13, 299-290-288-877
7 UCLA, +14, 292-300-286-878
8 Auburn, +15, 296-294-289-879
9 South Carolina, +17, 304-293-284-881
10 UNLV, +20, 287-293-304-884

Individual Scoring For Charlotte
T8 Matt Mincer, -2, 71-70-73-214
T22 Trevor Murphy, +4, 77-73-70-220
T26 Andrew DiBitetto, +5, 75-72-74-221
T36 Ray Sheedy, +6, 76-75-71-222
T103 Jonas Enander Hedin, +16, 78-78-76-232

 

Not bad, not bad at all.

 

Tremendous accomplishment for the Niners.

 

The Niner's golf team making the NCAA's out in Portland is the equivalent of the Niner's baseball team going to the College World Series in Omaha, and they haven't come close to doing that since the head man has been there. Never thought golf would make it before baseball.

 

Maybe the better baseball facilities under construction will help with recruitment.

 

Omaha vs Portland

With 30 teams plus individual qualifiers, I wouldn't compare the golf championships to the 12 teams that make it to Omaha. Baseball going to a super regional would be a more fair comparison and they have had their chances, just couldn't get over the hump. Hopefully after this weekend, plans will be made for a regional trip.

 

Niners fail to qualify for the final round of 15 after the first 3 days.

Still, a top 30 finish ain't bad.

Congratulations to the golf team.

 

Nice work.

Niners Place 22nd at NCAA Championships
Sheedy Shoots Even Par; Places 22nd Individually
Charlotte49ers.com

Sunriver, Ore. - Junior Ray Sheedy shot even-par 72 to finish the NCAA Championships at even par, 216, leading Charlotte to a +22 finish and a tie for 22nd-place. Sheedy tied for 22nd, individually, in a field of 156 of the nation's best collegiate golfers.

Sheedy birdied three holes on the back nine to move back to even par. Sophomore Trevor Murphy also shot even-par to finish at +4 for the tournament. Andrew DiBitetto added a +3 for the 49ers. Sophomore Jonas Enander Hedin shot a +8, 80, and Matt Mincer shot +9.

With their 22nd-place finish, the 23rd-ranked 49ers complete their most successful season ever. Charlotte won the A-10 Championship, made their second straight trip to the NCAA Regionals and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history.

The 49ers finished in the top five of every tournament, including the NCAA East Regional, leading up to the NCAA Championships.

Sheedy finished the season with a school-record 71.7 stroke average, becoming the first 49er ever to break par over the course of an entire season. The A-10 Student-Athlete of the Year, Sheedy finished at or below par in nine of the 49ers 13 events, this year.

Charlotte was honored as Golfweek's National Team of the Week after capturing the A-10 Championship. Head coach Jamie Green, in just his third season, was named the A-10 Coach of the Year. In three years, Green has two NCAA Tournament appearances, two league runner-up finishes and one league championship.

And, he has his entire team returning next year. Sheedy and former single-season record-holder Matt Mincer are rising seniors. Murphy, DiBitetto and Enander Hedin will be juniors next year.

All five were nominated for the Atlantic 10's academic all-conference team because each has at least a 3.0 GPA.