Aug. 29, 2002
Cullowhee, N.C. - The 2002-03 Western Carolina men's golf team, under the direction of Johnny Wike, is coming off its most successful season in school history.
However, the Cats lost two key components of their success in graduated seniors Greg Lewis and Lee Cline. Lewis, who had three top 10 finishes in 2001-02, set a WCU single-season record with his 74.32 stroke average and fired a 211 at the Southern Conference Championship, which is a WCU record at the event, to tie for fourth. Cline's 2001-02 season ranked seventh on the WCU single-season list and his career stroke average was good enough for sixth in the school record books.
Coach Wike will look to Clay Kilgore and Chase Kress to step up and be leaders on this team. Kilgore is Western's top returning players, carding a stroke average of 76.47. He had a top five finish at the Winthrop Invitational and currently ranks ninth on the WCU career stroke average list. In addition to his play with the Cats, Kilgore recently played in the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship. Kress played in eight of nine events for the Cats as a freshman last season. He had a 77.90 stroke average and his two-round score of 144 at Radford is the third lowest score in WCU history. Coach Wike also feels returning players Gorham Bradley and Ryan Barry have shown on occasion to be valuable contributors and are poised to have a solid season. Bradley played in three events last season and Barry saw action twice.
"Our strong finish last season and Clay's experience at the U.S. Amateur gives us some confidence for this season," Wike said. "Our goal is to play at that level, which is each player shooting around par. I believe we have the athletes, but only time will tell on how successful we are."
With the loss of two experienced players like Lewis and Cline, Coach Wike brought in two junior college transfers and three freshmen. Tim Eckberg, who played two years at Illinois Valley Junior College, had an impressive sophomore season, finishing 24th at the National Junior College Athletic Association Championship. Joe Rizzo, who will start at Western next January, will be a sophomore, after playing at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Ariz. Freshmen Blake Wray, Matthew Flueckiger and Zeke Cooper could all be contributors as they become more experienced.
The Cats will open the 2002 fall season on Sept 9-10 at Lenoir Rhyne's Billy Joe Patten Intercollegiate in Morganton. Western will once again host the WCU Invitational at Laurel Ridge (Oct. 28-29) as well as the Shoot-out at Burning Ridge Golf Course in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Nov. 9-10.
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