The Stetson University men's golf team will be back in action on Monday at the 2014 Homewood/Hilton Garden Airport & FGCU Classic at the Old Corkscrew Golf Club in Estero, Fla.
Old Corkscrew is a Jack Nicholas designed course that has been recognized as one of his finest. The course is a stand-alone that incorporates the natural terrain of Southwest Florida, including mature Oak, Pine and Cypress trees. The course, which is almost 7,400 yards long, first opened in 2007.
For the Stetson Hatters, the challenges this course will provide are no different from the other difficult courses they have seen this fall.
“They have heard so much about Old Corkscrew being a hard course that they are thinking about that,” Hatters coach Larry Watson said of his team. “The last two courses we have played have been so hard that it doesn't make any difference. I don't think Old Corkscrew can be any more difficult than the Old Stone Course was.”
Another major challenge for the Hatters in this event is the field. Both Florida (ranked in the top 50) and Florida State (ranked No. 2) are in a loaded field for the tournament.
Watson said his team can't be concerned about what other teams may be in this event.
“That is the thing about golf,” Watson said. “You can't be concerned with who the other teams are or what they might be doing. They only think you can worry about is playing the golf course. I don't think Florida and Florida State are going into this tournament thinking about Stetson, and we can't go in thinking about them.”
The Hatters will carry six players to the tournament, which will open with 36-holes of play on Monday with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. The final round will be played on Tuesday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m.
The field for the tournament has a decidedly Florida flavor with host Florida Gulf Coast, Stetson, Florida, Florida State, Bethune-Cookman and Florida Atlantic all in the event. Other schools in the field include Arkansas State, Ball State, Loyola (Md.), Miami (Ohio), Murray State, Ohio, Saint Mary's and St. John's.
FGCU has won this event each of the last three years when it was known as the Cobra-PUMA Invitational and was played at the Miromar Lakes Golf Club.
Stetson's players for the tournament will be senior team captain Matt Taylor, juniors Dustin Dingus and Brian Kehoe, sophomores Dirk Kuehler and Zach Stark along with freshman Chase Levesque.
Watson said he has been most pleased of late with the play of his freshman.
“Chase Levesque is going to be a good player here at Stetson,” Watson said. “Dustin said he should have shot 66 on the first day of qualifying and 67 on the second day. He is playing well, but he is a freshman.
“He will have played three tournaments this fall and I expect that next year he will be a really good player. He is working on a few little things and he is getting used to school. He told me that Old Stone was the hardest course that he has ever played.”
Due to the extreme difficulty of the courses they have been playing, Watson has had his team focus on practicing their long and middle irons.
“These kids are so used to hitting the ball 300 yards and then having a wedge in,” Watson said. “At these golf courses, they are hitting it 300 yards and then have a four iron, or five iron. That makes for a whole different deal.
“I have made them hit their five or six irons on every hole, no matter what hole it is. I don't care how far you can drive it. I put an orange cone out and made that the point where they had to hit into the green. You can go down to a course like this and not practice your five and six irons because you are going to have to have them.”
Following the tournament at Old Corkscrew, the Hatters will close their fall season by playing a Ryder Cup style match at Victoria Hills Golf Club on November 3-4 against Embry-Riddle.
