University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s golf coach Mark Guhne has expectations for his team.
But he has no idea what to expect.
The Mocs are one of 12 elite college program playing in the annual Carpet Capital Collegiate – known as the Masters of college golf – today through Sunday at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga.
“It doesn’t get much better than this,” Guhne said. “This is one of the premier college events with one of the best fields.
“The guys have to step right in, and we’ll see if they can play.”
His expectations arise from a second-place finish in the tournament last year and a victory in 2008 – a win that propelled UTC to No. 1 in the country.
But he has no idea how this year’s Mocs will play. The veteran is junior Stephan Jaeger. Sophomore Steven Fox made his debut in this tournament last year. And they’ll be joined by three freshmen: Davis Bunn from Farragut, Chris Robb of Scotland and Benni Weilguni of Austria.
“Hopefully Jeager and Fox don’t try to do too much and play their game, because I know where they are,” Guhne said. “We’re basically 20 minutes from home and we’ve played the course enough, so there is some familiarity. But this will be their first time with the lights on.”
The three freshmen earned their spots in the starting lineup through a six-day qualifier on three area courses, including the Farm.
“We never know what to expect from a new team like this,” Jaeger said. “Our expectations are pretty high. Just because there are three new guys, we should not lower our expectations.”
Defending champion Tennessee and all of the other participants from last year will return, including Wake Forest, Georgia and East Tennessee State.
“We were tied with Tennessee with six holes to play last year,” Guhne said. “We finished strong, but they finished with a bunch of birdies coming in. They went crazy.”