The Georgetown men’s golf team lost two of the top 75 golfers nationwide and the team looks to replace recent graduates James Farrah (COL ’04) and Nick Cook (COL ’04), who finished 12th and 74th at the NCAA Championship, respectively, during the upcoming season.
“It will be hard to do,” men’s golf Head Coach Tommy Hunter said. “They were talented players and leaders. We’ve got some seniors ready to stand in. Bob Molina had a strong preseason.”
Nonetheless, the Hoyas enter the 2004-05 season looking to continue their dominance in the Big East and make a return trip to the NCAA Championship.
Even with a strong returning group, the Hoyas might struggle to duplicate their results from last season. Of the 10 tournaments the team competed in, Georgetown finished in the top three eight times, including the Big East Championship. The Hoyas also won four tournaments, including the Big Five Invitational and the Navy Invitational.
One area the Hoyas look to improve is their back-to-back third-place finishes in the Big East Championship tournament. The departure of Virginia Tech, which finished second last year, could make a higher finish very possible.
“We’ve remained a solid citizen in the Big East. It’s going to be very, very competitive,” Hunter said.
Last year also marked the Hoyas’ return to the NCAA Championship, only the team’s second trip in 20 years. In the Championship’s East Regional tournament, the Hoyas finished 22nd.
The Hoyas’ performance in 2003-04 was good enough to earn Hunter the title of Big East Coach of the Year, the second time that he has received the honor. The award is voted on by the coaches of the conference’s nine teams. Hunter said that the award was a tribute to the athletes and the team as a whole, not just to his coaching.
This year, the team will lead by several golfers with big tournament experience. Junior Matt Myers enters the season after a fifth-place finish in the Big East Championship, which earned him All-Big East honors. Tim Moynihan will look to improve from his freshman campaign after participating in both the Big East Championship and the NCAA Championships East Regional. Junior David Erickson also competed in both championship tournaments and finished tied for 15th in the Big East Championship. Hunter said that he will look for leadership from the three returning from last year’s top five.
“We’ve got three guys returning with some experience in the lineup,” Hunter said. “We’ll look for them to lead us through the beginning of the season . We’re looking through the lineup to see who can rise to the fourth and fifth spots.”
Georgetown begins the season this Monday at the UNC-Greensboro Invitational in Pinehurst, N.C., where they will compete against teams including Maryland and Boston College.
“Right out of the gate we’ll probably see one of the toughest fields that we’ll see all year,” Hunter said.
Georgetown will continue play in four tournaments in October: William & Mary’s Joe Agee Invitational, the Xavier/Provident Invitational, the Big Five Classic and the Georgetown Hoya Invitational.
“It’s going to be another challenging year,” Hunter said. “Our schedule is going to be as hard as it’s been. Our schedule has improved.”