"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
online golf column
by
Chris Dortch

May 29, 2007

Chattanooga golf coach Mark Guhne and long-time friend of the program David McKenna were tearing across I-24 last week en route to see Moc freshman Derek Rende play his final round in the Tennessee Open when Guhne’s cell phone rang.

After two days and scores of 67-69 at Nashville’s Gaylord Springs Golf Links, Rende found himself leading the field of the state’s top amateurs and club professionals. Guhne and McKenna couldn’t wait to see if the youngster could close out the deal. But alas, it wasn’t to be.

The caller was Sal Rende, Derek’s father and the hitting instructor for the Philadelphia Phillies’ AAA franchise in Ottawa. That’s right, Canada. The elder Rende obviously hadn’t seen Derek play the first two rounds of the state open, and neither had Guhne, who had paperwork to catch up on after his team’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Regionals the week before.

Being an old baseball guy and no doubt a tad superstitious, Rende didn’t want to mess up his son’s mojo.

“Sal said, ‘He’s played great and we weren’t there. Let’s not change his luck’ ” Guhne said, laughing at the recollection.

With that, Guhne took a detour. He and McKenna spent the day in a golf equipment superstore, eagerly awaiting text messages from Rende’s teammates. And Rende, his routine intact, shot a 5-under-par 66, handily claiming the championship by four shots over Philip Watkins and six over defending champion Justin Metzger.

It’s difficult to assess how important the victory is for Rende’s career. Suffice it to say, it’s huge. Likewise for UTC’s golf program, which continues to gain momentum under Guhne’s leadership.

“I was looking at the trophy the day of my practice round,” Rende said. “And I noticed all the names of the people who have won this tournament. I remember thinking how great it would be to see my name on there.”

Score a victory for the power of positive thinking.

Asked to name the best part of Rende’s game, Guhne didn’t hesitate a bit. Like most college players, the lanky Rende hits the ball nine miles off the tee and can get up and down from anywhere. But in Guhne’s estimation, those skills pale in comparison to Rende’s No. 1 attribute.

“His mind,” Guhne said.

How else to explain Rende’s incredible bounce back from the NCAA Regionals, during which he opened with a pair of 78s, then plummeted to a final-round 89?

“I put a lot of pressure on myself, probably too much, at the regionals,” Rende said. “After those first two days, I probably tried to force too much the last round. It was a disaster.”

Rende’s play wasn’t the only reason the Mocs didn’t advance to the NCAA Tournament. But it sure felt that way to him. It took a long conversation with his father and some words of advice from Guhne to get Rende off the deck and ready for the state open.

“I told him how he’d played great all year,” Guhne said. “And that he could go up there [to the state open] and win. He’s that good. He just had to forget about the NCAA Regionals. That was yesterday. He had to put it behind him.”

Clearly, that wasn’t a problem.

“Coming into the state open, I thought I had nothing to lose,” Rende said. “All of a sudden I was just playing for myself, so I went out there and let it loose. The course where we played the NCAA Regionals [The Golf Club of Georgia] was hard. I thought maybe that would give me an advantage in the state open. I just wanted to go out there and make a lot of birdies.”

Rende made five birdies en route to a 67 in the first round and was in the thick of things. After a three-birdie, one-bogey 69 in the second round, he had the lead to himself. How would he play the final round?

“I tried not to steer away from my game plan,” Rende said. “But I knew I wasn’t going to have to take it real deep to win. I just didn’t want to force things, do anything stupid. I wanted to be patient. I knew the birdies would come.”

And come the birdies did. Rende’s patience was rewarded heading home, when, after a par at No. 10, he birdied three straight holes to take an insurmountable lead. He closed with a 66, the tournament’s low round, and a win that will have lasting repercussions for Rende and UTC’s program.

“Every time one of my kids goes out and does something like this, it solidifies the fact that we can play with anybody,” Guhne said. “It’s huge for us to have kids who can play at that level. I’m pleased for Derek, because this will give him confidence knowing he can play with the best players in our state, and if you can do that, you can play with the best in the country. But I’m also pleased for our program. We’ve got a great bunch of kids who are also great players.

“With the notoriety we’re getting lately and the support the community has given us, I have no doubt that we’ll continue to get those kinds of players.”

Rende, it turns out, isn’t hurting for confidence. Guhne had seriously considered red-shirting Rende his first season in the program, to let him get acclimated to a higher level of competition. But Rende thought he was already acclimated.

He was right. Rende finished third on the team in stroke average (74.10) and shot the Mocs’ low round of the year, a 63 en route to winning the USA Spring Golf Classic in late March.

“I didn’t expect Derek to have this much success,” Guhne said. “I expected him to be good. And I thought he could be great. But I didn’t think he could be great this soon. He was so young, I thought a year of him learning might be good for him.

“I think his on-the-job training was a whole lot better than he could have gotten in practice.”

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