Men’s Golf Swings Into Action With The Spring Portion Of Its 2010-11 Season

In the spring of 2011, the Elms College men's will look to build off the unprecedented success the team experienced in the fall portion of the season.

In his second season as head coach of the men's golf program, Craig Cowles guided the Blazers to six wins in nine invitationals during the 2010 fall season including the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship and the program's first-ever Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship. For his efforts, Coach Cowles was named the 2010 NECC Coach of the Year for men's golf.

Freshmen Henry Fall (Harpswell, Maine) and Kyle Simard (Thorndike, Mass.) made an immediate impact while sophomores Phil Rurak (Wilbraham, Mass.) and Anthony Roberts (Ludlow, Mass.) provided stellar play all season long for the Blazers.

Fall shot 11 rounds during the fall season shooting in the 70s during each outing, including a season low of 72 three times. For his efforts, Fall was named Second Team All-NECC after carding rounds of 76 and 77 at the two-day league championship at Leicester Country Club hosted by Becker College.

Rurak was named First Team All-NECC after finishing NECC Championship tournament play with a two-day score of 150 which was third best in the field. Rurak shot in the 70s in eight of his 11 rounds during the fall season, including a season-low 72 on two occasions.

Simard tied with Fall for fourth overall at the NECC Championship tournament play and for his efforts was named First Team All-NECC.

Fall tied for individual medalist honors at the season-opening Skidmore Invitational while Roberts earned top-honors at the first Blazer Invitational. Rurak followed that earning individual medalist honors at the second Blazer Invitational to highlight a tremendously successful season for the Blazers.

Seniors Andrew Sullivan (West Springfield, Mass.) and David Pianki (West Suffield, Conn.) return to the links for their final season with the Blazers. Sullivan competed in 10 outings during the fall and averaged a score of 81.2. Pianki carded his best round of the fall slate during the second Blazers Invitational shooting an 82.  

Sophomores Kyle Panek (Belchertown, Mass.), Dan Costello (Brookfield, Conn.) and Tavish Leland (Bridgton, Maine) and freshmen Eddie Innarelli (Ludlow, Mass.) and Tyler Cudnik (Hampden, Conn.), will round out the Blazers' spring squad.  

Costello and Leland were not with the team in the fall but competed last spring. Cudnik competed in seven invitationals during the fall, averaging rounds of 82.6, while Panek and Innarelli each attended three events during in the fall.

Question and Answer with head coach Craig Cowles
Q.) Talk about the depth of this squad heading into the 2011 portion of the season?
A.) We got Dan Costello back and basically the plan is to get the roster ready for next fall because we'll lose senior Andrew Sullivan after the season to graduation. He has been our lynchpin in the top five so I also want to get our other freshmen, Eddie Innarelli and Tyler Cudnik some experience. If the freshmen that come in next fall don't have the same bang as Henry Fall or Kyle Simard, the plan is to have someone ready to step into the five hole because with the automatic qualifier to NCAA Division III Championship next fall, we need to have someone ready to fill Andrew's spot.

Q.) What are you looking for out of your players during their spring break trip to South Carolina?
A.) I am looking for the players to enjoy the facilities and courses we'll be at during the trip. There are four unbelievable courses that we'll be playing and I want them to enjoy that experience. It's also a great opportunity for them to shake the rust off their game. We have a match on Tuesday with three other colleges, so we'll split the groups up and give everyone a good chance to be in the competitive spirit and get the juices flowing.

Q.) As a team, is there a phase of the game that needs to be improved upon?
A.) During the fall, guys were letting things get away from them for two or three holes and that was affecting the outcome of rounds going from great to okay or from okay to not so good. This is an ongoing process. I have worked on providing more nutrition on the course for the players as a way to try and combat this. We are also going to work on stretching before and after every time we hit balls this spring and see if that helps with recovery time and distances.  

Q.) In the fall you received stellar play from your freshmen. What do they need to do to continue that performance?
A.) They just need to stay within themselves. I just need them to do their part and not worry about doing anything special. I expect the upperclassmen who possibly were a little stale in the fall will be fresher in the spring. I am also looking for the freshmen to mature through the spring and finish the year strong both academically and on the golf course.

Q.) What will this team bring to the table in 2011 that other teams have not in the past? What makes this team unique?
A.) What makes this team unique is that there was never really a time during the fall where someone mailed it in. Each player was able to keep fighting through whatever they were going through because they knew that their score could represent whether or not we won or lost. Phil Rurak at the ECAC tournament is a good example. He snap-hooked a shot out of bounds and then hit his second shot in almost the same place but in bounds, and all the while he was walking to the ball he was worried that he had cost us the tournament. But he came back from that, and I thought he handled it well. You need to just do your part and just play the golf course. You can't affect anything else, you need to just play your game.