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2007-2008
SEASON OUTLOOK
University of St. Francis men’s golf coach Paul Downey heads into his 13th season and certainly hopes that his young squad won’t be battling inexperience and the dreaded bad luck associated with that number.
“We’ve only got one upperclassman among our top six players and he redshirted last year and played very little before that,” says Downey. “And we have just one sophomore who played extensively last fall and then tailed off in the spring.
“But we’ve got some very talented freshmen coming in to join these two guys, so what we may lack in experience, we should be able to make up for in talent.”
Downey’s 2006-07 squad did just what almost every one of his previous 11 teams have done at St. Francis. They won both the regular season title and the championship meet of the Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Golf Conference. Downey’s teams have won 11 league titles and 10 conference tourney trophies in his 12 years. So it’s safe to say that in addition to death and taxes, one more thing that is certain is success of the golf course of the men from USF.
But can the young team that will tee it up in 2007-08 keep that success going?
Robert Morris and Olivet Nazarene return veteran squads and finished in a tie for second just one stroke behind the Saints at the NIIGC meet last October. In most prognostication circles, both those schools would probably be favored over the Saints this fall.
“But that is why we play the tournaments,” answers Downey when he is questioned about his team’s chances to repeat once again. “We have a lot of golf to play before we get to that point and our young guys will develop. I would not count out anybody on my team this season. They all have been playing competitive golf at a fairly high level for the last few years and are capable of doing quite well on any golf course and on any given day.
“It will be a lot of fun to watch them learn and grow as the season develops.”
The returnees are junior Andrew Nelson and sophomore Steve Sourigno.
Nelson sat out last season, partly due to a large contingent of seniors playing ahead of him and also due to a heavy academic load last year.
“Andy has had the chance to play in some of our meets during his first two years here and he is a tough competitor,” says Downey. “ He will take a leadership role on our team and make some big contributions during the season.”
Sourigno is a local product (Joliet Catholic Academy) who jumped right into the fray as a frosh last fall and played some very good rounds, including a 73 at the Indiana Northwest Invitational.
“Steve is a big key for us this year,” says Downey. “If he plays to his capabilities all season long, he will give us some great scores and some veteran leadership. He may only be a sophomore but he has played a lot of competitive golf in the Joliet area in the last few years.”
With the exception of junior walk-on Robert Tibbetts, the rest of the USF roster is composed of freshmen.
That group includes Drew Anderson from nearby Lockport, Adam Billmeyer from Tinley Park, Pat Fitzgerald from Flossmoor and James Mulcahy from Willow Springs.
“Anderson and Fitgerald are two young guys that will certainly make an immediate impact on our program,” says Downey. “And Billmeyer will probably be one of our counting scores in meets this fall as well. Both Drew and Pat have a lot of maturity on the golf course and the tough competition they will face as freshmen will not faze them.”
In a dozen years as the head coach at USF, Downey has coached a lot of successful players. Many of the players that are among the leaders in the Joliet area golf championships held every summer are USF alumni. In fact, when Downey hosts his annual Brown and Gold Golf tourney each August – which features USF alumni vs. the current players in a Ryder Cup-like format – the event always is billed as one of the top gatherings of golfers in the Joliet area. It usually garners headline coverage in the Joliet Herald News sports section.
“We’ve had a lot of great teams in the past and I expect nothing but the same type of play out of this year’s team,” says Downey. “We’ll go through some growing pains but we’ll compete and we’ll surprise some people.”
As Downey says, that’s why you play the tournaments.
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