Spring Golf Recap: A-10 Championship Looms Large

VINCENT SCAUZZO ‘24 (HE/HIM) SPORTS WRITER

Just as the spring season brings the miracle of new life in the form of blossoming bright pink and yellow flowers, chirping chickadees, and the shade of green in the trees that makes you stop and take a picture, so too does it bring the burst of magnificence and wonder that is the tournament success of the Davidson College Men’s Golf Team. Every year, it seems, the archers and artists that comprise this troupe make their run in the A-10 Men’s Golf Championship with a high probability of victory. Anything besides this occurrence would be out of place, like a dogwood failing to produce its white crossshaped flowers and skipping straight to dark leaves.

This spring has been especially beautiful for this team. At the Sea Palms Invitational on St. Simon’s Islands, GA, they put up a recordbreaking 43-under par to blast any competition away by thirteen strokes. The tournament included strong individual performances from the usual suspects: Will Davis ‘25 and Josh Stewart ‘25, tied for third, each posting 11-under for the three-day event. In the prior tournament at Palmetto Golf Club in South Carolina, Brian Garrett ‘23 tied for second with a score of four under par. The driver he said he had been working on during the offseason has certainly come around to be a weapon in his bag and not a worry.

Indeed, this lack of anxiety is tangible throughout the team. Talking with Alex Heffner ‘24 and Garrett, one really starts to believe that this level of performance, this expectation of victory and rate of success, is inseparably sewn into each player’s conscious. The furrowed brow and the firm grin that frequent Heffner’s visage embody the emotions of the team all in one look. They carry out their physical and mental preparation for the game with great severity, gravity, and intensity. However, they are not oblivious to their potential. Four of the five players competing in the championship have been there before. They know what it is like to win. They know they can do it again.

The greatest challenge facing them, then, is not one of swing mechanics or ball flight, rather, it is one of virtue. The team must embrace their confidence and use it to their advantage, but without becoming arrogant, losing their focus, and letting the competition creep up on a sleeping giant. Yet, if one spends a mere moment with one of the fine gentlemen from the team, any residual angst or apprehension will wash away. These “cool, calm, and collected” specimens of virtuous exceptionalism (Garrett likes his three C’s) all acknowledge this delicate balance they must manage to stand victorious at the end of the big weekend.

The course itself, the Reunion Resort Nicklaus Course in Kissimmee, FL—suits the multidisciplined team well. The long, wide fairways of the will receive the players’ whistling Titleists like a broken-in catcher’s mitt. The firm, fast greens, big as the ground floor of the library, will be putt on as delicately as if they were made of glass. Everything in between—every sand shot, flop shot, and sweet-spot struck seven-iron—will be executed with the precision of neurosurgeon. It is not as if the burden falls on one or a few members of the team. For instance, Will Davis ‘25 might not be the longest hitter in the field, but he knows he has got teammates who can cover him in that department, along with 13 other clubs in his bag that can more than make up the difference.

As for the competition, the primary threat remains the Virginia Commonwealth

University. The Rams of Richmond have rebuilt much of their team for this season, collecting players from Texas A&M and the University of Tennessee, to name a few big shots. They have put up some good numbers this year, but where lesser programs might dread the mere thought of running with such opposition, the focused men of the Davidson team are not the kind of people who look at the leaderboard. They know all they can do is concentrate on themselves and manage their game.

The starting five for the tournament will be seniors Brian Garrett and Ethan Hall, junior

Alex Heffner, and sophomores Will Davis and Josh Stewart. Through their exceptional performance and consistency throughout the season, these young men have earned their positions to represent our school in that great arena in central Florida.

The tournament will run from Friday, April 28th through Sunday, April 30th. Now, we can only hope that spring will continue to bear the blossoms and fruits it’s brought so far and will have the Wildcats stand victorious for the third year in a row.