"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Stan Crawley

August 27, 2002

Andrew Black plans to follow former University of Tennessee golf teammate Jimmy White into the professional ranks.

Not just yet, however.

White, who has already graduated from Tennessee, announced recently he will try to qualify for the Canadian Tour this fall. On the flipside, Black is still a year away from his goal of playing professionally.

While White hits the road, Black will be back in Knoxville for a final 12 hours he needs for his degree in Sports Management. He will serve an internship next spring and graduate in May.

"I'm going to turn pro next fall,'' Black said. "That's what it's looking like. To make it to the next level I'll have to drive the ball a little better and get my yardages down really good with my irons. I'm going to work like crazy on my short game.

"I recently read a quote from David Duval, who said you must keep it in the short grass, know your yardages from 120 in and putt well. He said if you can do those things, you can play out there on the tour.''

Black had an up-and-down summer playing amateur golf, starting with a victory in the Signal Mountain Invitational in a playoff over Philip Guess. That was not the highlight, however.

"Finishing second in the Southern Amateur at East Lake in Atlanta was definitely my highlight,'' Black said. "I played really well for four rounds. It was a good tournament for me.''

The low point came two weekends ago during the annual Red Bud Invitational at Valleybrook. Black was in the final group of the day with White and eventual winner Patrick Williams, but struggled most of the day.

"I felt like I played better than what I ended up shooting,'' Black said. "I had a lot of trouble with the greens. They are not suited for me.

"I felt like I wasn't playing bad, I just couldn't seem to get things going my way. And all my mistakes were big ones.''

Black recently talked about the best part of his game as the summer golf schedule concludes and the part he needs to improve the most.

"My strength is my length,'' he said. "I drive it very well. I think that got on me a little at Red Bud because I only hit driver twice out there. My length really helped me at the Southern Amateur because it was such a long golf course. I was able to hit it a long way, keep it in play and give myself shots to the green for birdies.

"I still need to work on my wedge play. Come January and until summer, I'll pay the most attention to that. Really, on everything from 100 yards in I want to be within 10-feet of the pin. That's my goal.''

In the meantime, Black will be a student concentrating on getting his diploma. He wants to focus on getting his remaining hours, having some fun and getting ready for the future.

As he looks forward to playing professionally, after playing in the U.S. Amateur next year (or so he hopes), Black will get expert assistance from Council Fire professional Richard Rebne and Randy Wiley, his former assistant coach at Tennessee. He will also talk to his buddy, Jimmy White, who will have a year of experience on the professional tour.

"I hope Jimmy can give me some insight,'' Black said. "I've also talked with Michael Morrison. Turning pro didn't work out for him, but he has helped me along by telling me what things I need to get in order.''

Before finishing school and starting on his goal of becoming a professional, Black has some unfinished business left in Chattanooga this year. He will play in two more local tournaments—the Battlefield Invitational 4-Ball on Sept. 14-15 and the Chattanooga TPC on Sept. 26-29 at Council Fire.

In the current Pro Golf Superstore www.chattanoogatpc.com area rankings, Black is leading the race for "Player of The Year" with 238 points. Kevin Law is second with 227, and Guess has 222 points. The points list is determined from competition in 12 local events, four state events and six national and regional events. [click here for details].  The Pro Golf Superstore www.chattanoogatpc.com "Player of the Year" will receive a piece of crystal and a $500 gift certificate to the Pro Golf Superstore.

"I'll definitely be back for those two tournaments,'' Black said. "Everything is so close. It's going to come down to the TPC between me, Philip and Kevin. It's going to be a lot of fun.''

*** Feedback ***
click here to give us your comments about this article,
 or suggest a subject for a future article