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Virginia men’s golf coach Bowen Sargent checks in with VirginiaSports.com to talk about the team’s fall campaign and how the squad will prepare for next spring. He addresses freshman Ben Kohles, who has his college career off to a hot start and what it will take to return to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year.
Question: How do you think the team played this fall?
Sargent: I thought we played solid in every event. That was encouraging. We never played great and we never played poorly but we were very solid. I don’t think the team has reached its full potential yet, but that has been typical of our teams over the last few years. We seem to start slow in the fall and then pick it up in the spring. If things hold true, hopefully we’ll get a lot better this spring.
Question: Did Ben Kohles surprise you as a freshman?
Sargent: When I recruited Ben, I saw a lot of talent. For him to do what he did is pretty special. To come in here as a freshman, and to be our best player, that is pretty amazing. We have almost the same team that went to nationals last year and he stepped right in and clearly has been our best player. The good thing is, he does not feel like he has realized his potential yet. As I looked at the rankings the other night, he is somewhere between the third and sixth best freshman in the country at the moment. I hope he takes all of this in stride and continues to work hard and be diligent. He should get better as he gets bigger and stronger. He has some off-season things to work on and he realizes that. He knows what his weaknesses are and is working hard to bridge that gap.
Question: You are excited about finally getting transfer Cole Wilcox into the lineup.
Sargent: Cole is a very good player. If there is any indication from qualifying, he could potentially be our best player. He had our lowest stroke average during the qualifying rounds we played in the fall. If there is any correlation between that and playing well in tournaments, he could potentially be our best player.
He has decided to change his entire golf swing during the past month. As a coach, that makes you a little nervous, especially for someone who has performed pretty well over the past year and a half. He wants to get away from stack-and-tilt to a more natural swing. He is responding well to the changes and I personally like the changes that he is making.
Question: What will the team concentrate on between now and the time you start competing again in February?
Sargent: Mainly strength and conditioning. Currently, the team is running three mornings a week and working out three days a week. The guys are really trying to get in good shape. This is the time we usually see the most growth in our team. We break our practices into individual sessions where they all do two individual one-hour sessions per week and we start attacking some of their weaknesses. We are looking at chipping, putting, and mechanics within their full swing and then you add the dynamic of conditioning and getting bigger and stronger. This four- or five-month period that we are in right now is when we see a lot of development, especially for first-years. It is the first time we can really approach them with specific changes they need to work on. Up until this point, we let them play and take a lot of notes. When the off-season arrives, we go hard at some of their weaknesses.
Question: How important is it to have a good conditioning program and how do the players benefit by that?
Sargent: In our sport, we play a lot of 36-hole days and when you are out there carrying a bag around for 12 hours, conditioning becomes a big part of it. The physical side of it is important, but it becomes a mental challenge toward the end. When you have been up since 5:30 in the morning and you have been out there playing for 10 hours and you have five or six holes ahead of you, if you are in good shape physically, hopefully that will help to let you make good decisions. You will be able to respond to certain situations. It is a mental edge you can gain by physical conditioning than per se the physical edge.
Question: Is the level of conditioning something new for the freshmen?
Sargent: There seems to be a school of thought out there that you are not supposed to lift and train as junior golfers because your bodies are still growing. We encounter that a lot among the first-years who come here. A lot of kids have been advised not to do some of those things, so when they first get here, the conditioning we do and the level at which we train can be a pretty good shock to them. We are not doing anything unique here; it is just a matter of having the discipline to do it.
Question: What do you look forward to the most in the spring?
Sargent: Just to start competing again. I love to compete, unfortunately I cannot play, and so I have to live a little vicariously through the players. I just love the competition. I’m not a big fan of the off-season. Competing is the beauty of sport.
Question: Do you see anyone stepping up in the spring to take on a more prominent role on the team?
Sargent: I think Cole is an unknown quantity for us. A lot of people probably don’t even know he is here right now. He could be the surprise on our team. Conrad Von Borsig has been working really hard during the off-season. He has struggled a lot the last year after earning All-ACC honors. We have had some good conversations and he wants to get back to that level and has re-dedicated himself and wants to go out strong. He wants to have a good final stand.