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University of North Carolina Athletics
Q&A with Head Coach John Inman
May 2, 2006 | Men's Golf
May 2, 2006
On the heels of the 2006 Men's Golf ACC Championship, North Carolina head coach John Inman sat down with TarHeelBlue.com to answer a few questions.
TarHeelBlue.com: What led to the sharing of this year's ACC Championship between North Carolina and Georgia Tech?
John Inman: What happened was we had to play about 27 holes in that last round because we had rain on the second day. So, we just ran out of daylight. Once we got done with the day, there was a playoff that was along the standard guidelines. We played the 18th hole and couldn't find a champion. Then we went back and played the 17th hole. What happened was the first group of five came through and the officials came to us and said that they were going to call it because it was getting dark. So, [Georgia Tech's coach] Bruce [Heppler] and I discussed it and said that's fine. So, we were sitting there listening to the walkie-talkies and the guys were out on the course saying, "We want to play. We want to play. We want to play this hole." So, Bruce and I just kind of looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and said, "well ... let `em play.' They did and we still ended up tied. By that time it was just too dark to play anymore. So we had the co-championship.
THB: You're the only person who's ever won an ACC Championship both as a coach and as an individual player. How do the two compare?
JI: Well, I'll tell you, it feels great. I was thinking back to those days and it's hard to remember all the particulars of winning as a player because it's been so long ago. But, it was great to have three team championships when I was in school and that was very very exciting and thrilling for all of us. I was fortunate enough to win one as an individual, but that's not near as nice as winning a team championship where we can all share it together. As a team, these guys have shared this championship and it's just been really special. They've been working very hard and things are starting to pay off for them.
THB: What do you say to your guys in a tight race with high stakes, like the one you had at this year's ACC Championship?
JI: I just tell them, number one, have fun. This is what we work for - to get in contention - and the more times that we get in contention, the more comfortable we get, and we're going to come out on top. This year we had already won one tournament this. But, we were in contention in a couple more tournaments and we didn't close the deal. So, we were probably two out of four as far as being in contention to win versus pulling out the win. Again, I think that works in our favor. I just tell them to have fun because this is what we're playing for - to be in contention. There's no pressure, it's just go out and have fun and if you do that, we're going to win some championships.
THB: Why did you chose to put a tournament on your schedule between the ACC Championship and NCAA Regionals?
JI: I did that early on, a while back. There's always a big gap between when we play in the ACC's and when we go to Regionals. So, it can kind of slow us down a little bit because we're out of competition for about three weeks. I wanted to put something in there that would get us back in competition and get our competitive juices going heading into Regionals. I think that was a good choice and we're looking forward to that.
THB: Does your approach to this tournament change because of its timing between two bigger tournaments?
JI: No, not at all. I want the guys to be prepared and I want them to be prepared to compete. When we're competing, we want to win every tournament that we play in. That's why you go out there. You play to win. I want them to have that mindset. Like I said, I want to get the competitive juices flowing again. I don't want to go out there and lollygag through it and enjoy a great golf course, but go down there to win. I think if we continue to do that then we'll be prepared to play well at Regionals and Nationals.
THB: How do you prepare for the heightened level of competition that's left in your season, both as a coach and as a team?
JI: I think we're just going to continue to do what we've been doing and that's just working very hard on our short game. We'll just stay active. There's a three week break before we really get going again. The guys are going through exams right now and they don't have a whole lot of time to practice. But, it'll be easy for the guys to gear back up and get into that competitive frame of mind because school will be done and we'll just continue to do what we've been doing.
THB: What's the team's biggest strength right now?
JI: I'll tell you, at the ACC's our stats were good in all categories. We've been a very good ball-striking team. We've hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. Our putting hasn't been as good as we would like. It's still good, but our strokes on the green are probably higher than we'd like, but that goes back to the fact that we're hitting so many greens to begin with. There's not a lot of getting up and down. At the ACC everything was solid. Overall, we're just a very solid ball-striking team and when our short game is good, that's when we win golf tournaments.
THB: So, the team needs to concentrate most on its short game right now?
JI: Always. Everybody needs that. Nobody is good enough that they can't improve there.
THB: How do you decide who you'll take to Regionals and then on to Nationals?
JI: Well, it's pretty easy when you have a team that wins the ACC Championship. That pretty much solidifies the lineup. We've been really looking at our fifth position this spring. Four guys have really separated themselves as far as their play. But, when we have Chase MacFarland come in and shoot six-under-par at the ACC's that pretty much solidified our lineup.
THB: We often hear about and see the competition between the players on the course and understand that it can get pretty intense. How does the competition between coaches rank on intensity?
JI: (laughing) We're always competitive. That's one of the things that I think coach Hill and I bring to the team is our competitiveness and wanting to win. But, we want to win the right way, by doing the right things, and being a gentleman while competing hard. We haven't been doing a whole lot of competing within ourselves recently. But, it can get pretty testy between the coaches sometimes, which is fun.
Players Mentioned
