|
"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
June 4, 2008
Josh Coley’s
professional golf career continues to build momentum.
After finishing second—and claiming the low
pro check of $10,000—in the Tennessee Open last month, Coley
recently qualified for the Nationwide Tour’s Rex Hospital Open
after shooting a 64 on June 2.
Could Coley, the former NAIA All-American at
Lee University, be that rare Chattanooga area player who defies
the odds and makes a decent living in professional golf?
Those who know him best think so.
“I’ve played a lot of golf with Josh,” said
Chuck Jabaley, the Cleveland Country Club and Honors Course member
who, like Coley, has a Tennessee Open victory on his resume. “He
can probably hit the ball as well as anybody he’s playing with out
there.”
That opinion was seconded by Neil Scott, the
assistant professional at Cleveland and a former teammate of
Coley’s at Lee. Scott caddied for Coley on the Hooters Tour last
winter and thinks his friend has the game to compete.
“The times I saw him play, he hit it better
than anyone he played with,” Scott said. “I think he’ll definitely
make a go of it. It’s all about confidence for Josh. He’s got the
talent. And now he’s starting to get his confidence. You’ve got to
have a little bit of cockiness. You’ve got to believe you can beat
everybody. When he first went out there, I don’t think he believed
that.”
Coley struggled at times on the Hooters Tour,
but he switched to the Tarheel Tour this spring and has begun to
emerge. Former Baylor and Vanderbilt star Luke List is among the
many talented players learning the pro game on the Tarheel Tour,
which has become a solid springboard for many. Just last week,
former Tarheel player Kris Blanks beat Bob May—he of the legendary
duel with Tigers Woods in the 2000 PGA Championship—to win the
Nationwide Tour’s Bank of America Championship, a victory worth
$135,000. Several current and former Tarheel players made it
through U.S. Open sectional qualifying this week and will be
heading to Torrey Pines for the main event June 12.
Coley has shown he can compete with those
kinds of players. He’s made a couple of cuts and $3,000 in four
Tarheel tournaments, a good enough performance to give him an
all-important dose of confidence. After closing with a pair of 69s
and finishing tied for 17th at the NorthStone Open,
Coley came back to his home state, shot 70-66-69-205 in the
Tennessee Open and earned his biggest check as a pro.
This week he chases bigger money on the
Nationwide Tour, where the total purse is $500,000, $90,000 of
which goes to the winner.
Coley’s progress this year has been eagerly
tracked by his many friends in Cleveland and Chattanooga.
“He’s a great kid,” Jabaley said. “I really
like Josh. And he’s got a lot of support here in Cleveland.”
Several Cleveland members have sponsored
Coley and have essentially told him not to fret over when he can
repay any front money. That alone might have taken just enough of
a burden off him to ignite his current hot streak.
---
The book has officially been closed on the
2007-08 college golf season, and the final numbers were impressive
for Chattanooga’s emerging men’s program. The Mocs—who advanced to
the NCAA regionals for the second straight season—were ranked
No. 12 in the Golfweek/Sagarin
Ratings Index, and came in at No. 14 in the Golfstat rankings and
the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches Poll.
“It was a great
year,” coach Mark Guhne said. “From top to bottom, we improved as
a team, and that’s all you can ask for as a coach. We return our
starting five and will add some exciting newcomers next year.
“I’m ready to
start [2008-09] now.”
---
Unlike Chattanooga, which was bitterly
disappointed when it couldn’t advance from NCAA East Regional
despite the fact it was played at Council Fire, Middle Tennessee
wound up in the NCAA Championships and acquitted itself well once
it got there.
The Blue Raiders, who won a school-record
five tournaments in 2007-08, became the only team in Middle’s
Division I era to play on the final day of its respective sport’s
national championship. The Raiders made the cut into the final
round and finished 15th, last among the final-round
qualifiers. But that takes nothing away from the accomplishment.
"I knew this group was special at the
beginning of the season and I knew they could do special things,"
said first-year coach Whit Turnbow, who took over for the popular
Johnny Moore this season. "I really believed we could get into a
regional this year. Did I expect to be playing in the final round
of the national championships this year? We believed we could get
[there], but to make the cut was even more special. Our kids
proved they belonged, and I am so proud of them and their
accomplishments. They worked hard for it and they received the
rewards that go along with sacrifice and commitment.
“This group is why you enjoy coaching young
men. I have some of the best you could ask for and that's in all
aspects of their lives."
One of those young men was Cleveland’s Nick
Bailes, who finished his career in fine fashion. His second-round
72 was Middle’s low round of the tournament. Bailes finished tied
for 71st.
###
*** Feedback ***
click here to give me your comments about this article,
or suggest a subject for a future article
|