New atmosphere inspires a fresh start for NGU golf
Brayden Allen, Sports Editor
The courses are clear and the fairways are green as the North Greenville golf teams tee off to open up their season.
Both the men’s and women’s teams hit the course coming off successful 2021 seasons, filled with high and lows. Each saw continued improvement as the year went on, but understood work still needed to be done.
“The team’s performance last year was successful, our scores and finishes improved,” senior Parker Stalvey said. “But there were a lot of opportunities to score, left over that we did not reach.”
With the arrival of the fall came many new changes. The Crusaders lost some of their best golfers but gained many new faces, bringing a fresh atmosphere to the program.
The key losses came with the departures of three seasoned veterans, seniors Kathlee Bonham and Miller Harbin and junior Jordan Kirkley who moved on to pursue educational opportunities. Each were consistent top scorers, leaving behind big shoes to fill.
North Greenville also had to fill its main leadership role with the departure of Head Coach Robbie Edwards who resigned following the 2021 season. In his place, comes a new face to the program.
Bud Tate comes in to take over the reins of the program, drawing on his deep resume of coaching and experience within the game of golf.
Prior to his arrival, Tate had a 10 year tenure as the golf coach at Ohio Valley University where he led both the men’s and women’s teams to success. During his tenure the women had 222 victories and 8 tournament championships while the men had 231 victories and 9 tournament championships.
Tate’s arrival at NGU brought much excitement and enthusiasm. His coaching experience has already made an impact on players from both teams.
“He just makes the game and what we’re trying to do seem easier,” said sophomore Karsten Shields. “He emphasizes on what you can control, which includes picking right targets, numbers, and convincing yourself most importantly you can pull off the shot.”
“Coach has implemented more structured practices and focuses on people’s individual swings,” said senior Anna Schweitzer. “He helps his players become the best they can be with their individual games.”
Since Coach Tate’s arrival, the Crusaders have already gotten off to a strong start to begin the season.
The women opened up with a second place finish, out of nine teams, at the King University Invitational.
“I think our ladies have done an excellent job so far,” Stalvey said. “This is the best start to the season we have had in a long time, and our women are excited for the future.”
The men have more work to do following a tough eight place finish, out of 12 teams. But improvement has been the goal for the team.
“In Bristol there were tough conditions…we had a tough first day but rebounded and played better,” Shields said. “We’re a young team and I think we will continue to improve, more and more, throughout the season.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams are back in action with multiple events in the month of October as they look to continue to get better as the season goes on.
