SPURS & FEATHERS: Gamecocks taking 'survive and advance' approach into NCAA Championship

May 24, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina men’s golf head coach Bill McDonald jokingly compares the Eugene Country Club to the scenery in the “Lord of the Rings” movies, but he also knows that is not necessarily a bad thing for his team.

“It’s very tree-lined,” McDonald notes of the Eugene Country Club, which is the home of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. “It’s very much of an old school golf course, and it suits us in the sense that you have to hit fairways and you have to hit greens. Usually statistically that’s what we’ve been really good at.”

The Gamecocks open the 2016 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship scheduled for May 27-June 1 at the Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Oregon, coming off a second-place finish as a team at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional.

South Carolina senior Sean Kelly said the site of the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional in the Ol’ Colony Golf Complex just like the Eugene Country Club suited the Gamecocks well, particularly since they are always up for a challenge.

“The golf course was very good for us because it was difficult,” Kelly, who finished tied for 10th at the regional, said. “It was a very tough regional too, and I think we’re a team that we kind of take that Jimmy V (Jim Valvano) ‘survive and advance’ kind of attitude.”

The 2016 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship will feature multiple “survive and advance” scenarios for the Gamecocks, who are one of 30 participants in this year’s championship.

When things commence at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship on Friday, May 27, there will be three rounds of stroke play with the top-15 teams and top-9 individuals not on those teams advancing to the final round of stroke play on Monday, May 30. The top-8 teams after stroke play will then move on to match play with the quarterfinals and semifinals set to be contested on Tuesday, May 31. A national champion will be determined in the national championship match on Wednesday, June 1. The final three days of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship will be televised by the Golf Channel.

McDonald knows it could be a long week of golf, but that is obviously what he is hoping for as that means the Gamecocks are positioning themselves well at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship.

“It’s going to hopefully be a lot of golf,” McDonald said. “I think it’s a good golf course for us, and it should suit us. The first goal is to get through the first cut of 15 on Sunday, and then the race for eight on Monday is always exciting, so I think our guys are ready for it, and we’re really looking forward to the challenge.”

Kelly agrees with his head coach, relaying “the whole thing is you just take it one day at a time.”

“You try to get through stroke play, and then when match play comes it’s anyone’s game really,” Kelly said. “You just want to make it to match play, and then anything can happen. It’s just important to keep that attitude during the stroke play and try to get through.”