GREENWOOD – Four weeks ago, the Lander men's golf team celebrated its first team victory in the two-year history of the program. It would take the Bearcats just two more weeks to win their second.
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Lander enters this week's Peach Belt Conference Tournament on a roll, having won two of its last three tournaments. Now, the young Bearcats with five sophomores and six freshmen have their eyes on making the NCAA Tournament.
“We feel really good about it,” said sophomore Billy Belair, who won medalist honors last week. “We've been preparing a lot, practicing every day, and still trying to maintain our grades (in the classroom). But a lot of time on the golf course is what's helping us.”
Bearcats coach Chipper Bagwell is pleased with the progress.
“It (the two wins) is really amazing to think that we have a new program in its infancy stages still,” said Bagwell, who re-started the program in 2005-2006 with all freshmen (Lander had a golf program until 1978-79).
“It's a learning process. You have to learn how to win. We were in a position to win a couple times early in the year when we were in first place after the first round. And then we didn't handle the second day very well.”
That all changed March 19-20 at the AccuSport Intercollegiate Tournament in Concord, N.C., when the Bearcats beat out nine other teams with a two-day score of 615. They topped Lenoir-Rhyne by four strokes after leading by seven after one round.
“The first tournament that we won at Rock Barn in North Carolina, we were in first place and we talked about that the night before (the final round),” the coach said. “We went out the next day and held on and got our first win. Sometimes that first win is the hardest one to get, especially for a new program.”
Lander rolled to its second victory March 31-April 1 at the 14-team Carolina Sands Intercollegiate, winning by 19 strokes on UNC Pembroke's home course in eastern North Carolina. The Bearcats shot a 568 while Catawba was a distant second with a 587.
“Last week, we go up on a tight, tough course and on the first day our kids shot the lights out,” Bagwell said. “They shot an 8-under par score the first day. That gave us a pretty good cushion.”
Lander led by nine shots after the first round with Belair and sophomore Cooper Tinsley leading the way with 68s.
“I told them 'the job is still not done. We've got to go back out there the next day, be really focused, and finish the job again,'” Bagwell said. “To their credit, they went out and did it again. They shot even par. In a two-day tournament, to shoot 8-under par, you don't see that much. We're hoping learning how to win will carry over as we go to the Peach Belt
Tournament.”
Belair actually had a poor showing during Lander's first team win, firing an 83 and 84 at Rock Barn.
“The only thing that's been holding me back this year is my putting,” the Myrtle Beach native said. “I have been hitting the ball well. That week I had really bad putting. I have been working on my mental game a lot, talking with another player on my team and taking notes. I have been reading about the mental game of golf. It has a lot more to do with golf than I thought. I am starting to understand it. My putting is starting to come around.”
That other player is Belair's roommate, red-shirt freshman Seb Brown.
“Seb is really good with the mental game,” Belair said. “He gives me a lot of books to look at. He's got me thinking positive and keeping the negative thoughts out. When I come home from tournaments, he asks me how I did. And if I talk negative, he gets me to look at the bright side.”
There was plenty for Belair to feel positive about during Lander's second win. He and Tinsley shot 68s the first day, and Belair held on to the individual title with an even par 72 in the second round. He beat out Pembroke's Matthew Morrison by a stroke.
“That first day was a good day for all of us,” Belair said. “I hit every fairway and most of the greens. If I missed a green, I still managed to get up-and-down. I realized I was kind of in the zone most of the day. I was positive about everything. If I had a putt, instead of thinking I am going to get it close, I was thinking I am going to make it. I made a lot more (putts) than I had been. It was a good feeling. Then I came in and found out Cooper ended up with a 68, I was real happy.”
Cooper slumped to a 75 on the second day and finished tied for third with Bearcats teammate Charlie Hoyle (70 and 73) with 143s. Belair overcame one bad hole to finish at 140 to edge Morrison on his home course.
“I had one bad swing. I hit it out of bounds and made a double (bogey),” Belair said. “I went from two-under to even. I thought I could blow up and lose the tournament. That came to my head. But I thought positive and didn't give up.”
Belair had two Lander firsts last September when he made a hole-in-one at the Johnny Palmer Invitational and went on to win medalist honors. He also had a double eagle during last year's Peach Belt Tournament and owns the Myrtle Beach National course record with a 62.
He comes from a golfing family. His mom Diane Belair has won several amateur tournaments in the Myrtle Beach area. Dad Bill also plays as does sister Brittany and younger brother Bobby, who is a soccer star at Socastee High School.
Belair's parents witnessed their son's first-round 68 at the Carolina Sands tournament and waited for the phone call about the April Fool's Day final round.
“My mom was really excited. I called her up and joked that I had a bad day,” Belair said, with a smile.
Tinsley was Lander's top performer in the team's first victory. The Greenwood native placed third while Jake Amos was fifth and Patrick Wilson seventh. Amos has led the Bearcats in three other tournaments this year while Hoyle has done it once.
“It seems like it's a different person every tournament,” Bagwell said. “It's Billy one tournament, Cooper one tournament, Jake one tournament, Charlie one tournament. We don't rely on just one guy. All of them are capable of scoring low.”
“You need that depth,” Belair said. “You need your four and five men to always be around 75 or under.”
Now, the Bearcats are focused on next week's Peach Belt Tournament that starts Monday in Eatonton, Ga. Lander played there on Georgia College & State University's home course March 26-27, placing eighth out of 15 teams at the Bobcat Invitational behind Belair's fourth-place finish.
“We are really motivated knowing we have a chance to go to the regionals and go the nationals,” Belair said. “We all get along pretty well. You have to have chemistry to play well. We want each other to play well. The main thing is to get along and cheer each other on, practice together, do things together, and stay positive.”
“That's been our goal since day one to go to the NCAAs. We are close,” Bagwell said.
“Last year's stats show that we weren't even near it,” Belair said.
But this year is different. The NCAA Tournament accepts the top eight teams in each region and Lander is currently ranked seventh in the South Atlantic and 28th nationally. Peach Belt members Columbus State, Georgia College, Armstrong Atlantic, USC Aiken and USC Upstate are ranked ahead of the Bearcats. But a solid performance at the Peach Belt Tournament might be
enough to send Lander to the regionals.
“We are optimistic that we are going to do well in the Peach Belt,” Bagwell said.
The regionals are May 7-9 in Savannah, Ga., and those winners advance to the nationals May 22-25 near Detroit, Mich.
“I told them when they were freshmen (last year) that our goal is to get to the NCAAs,” Bagwell said.
Bagwell knows a little something about NCAA Tournaments. The former Lander women's and men's head basketball coach took the men's team to the national Elite Eight in 1999.
“It's kind of like basketball season,” Bagwell said of the golf. “It's tournament time. It's our chance to shine.”
