Mark Guhne is experiencing something he's not been used to during his time as University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's golf coach: extensive depth.
The Mocs have been able to use as many as eight quality players in the early parts of their 2017 schedule, and they finished sixth Monday in the Southern Intercollegiate in Athens, Ga., without their No. 1 man.
One of the teams they beat was the host Georgia Bulldogs, the No. 19 team in the country.
With UTC senior Wes Gosselin in Santee, Calif., for the PGA Canada's Mackenzie Tour qualifying school, sophomore Etienne Brault led the way with a 2-under-par finish, tying for 12th. It was his first tournament of the spring semester.
"I got to watch every shot, every putt," Guhne said Tuesday. "I got to watch all of them yesterday, and I've had the opportunity to talk to most of them about what's going on for the final push. Not having Wes there, I got to see firsthand who would be the vocal leader of the group, which helps for the next year.
"They pulled together as a team; they pulled for each other all day. If they had a bad hole, they still pulled for them. I also could tell they didn't want to let each other down."
Guhne said the quality depth is something he's never had in years before. Practices are now more competitive, as only two players - Gosselin and Brooks Thomas, the two seniors - have separated themselves from the pack. After those two, the players could change from tournament to tournament, as everybody wants to be part of the five-man squad.
"When you just look at the top of the lineup, we've been stronger there before, but when you're looking at 3 through 8, we've never been that deep in that situation," Guhne said. "After Wes and Brooks, the others have been in and out of the lineup. They've had good tournaments, but unfortunately they all have a couple of tournaments I wish they played better."
Three of the eight - Phillip Hickam, Stuart Thomas and Lake Johnson, a Chattanooga Christian graduate - have played in all three 2017 tournaments. Guhne now has to get a feel for the final decisions as to the five players based on what he sees in practices. Even in those tournaments, he's able to watch the four players who don't make the top five, as in a lot of cases they travel and play as individuals.
That helped them Monday, and Guhne feels that will help his team going forward, starting next weekend at the Furman Intercollegiate.
"None of them take a day off," Guhne said. "They really want to be good. They really do work hard. Most of them have their priorities in the right place, and from that standpoint it's really been fun to coach this year."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.