%20(1).png&width=36&height=36&type=webp)
University of North Carolina Athletics
Under Pressure
May 10, 2015 | Men's Golf
By Laura Fellwock, GoHeels.com
On its biggest stage, golf draws millions of viewers and avid golfers from around the world. A player must tune out the crowds and cameras and just tee it up.
And then there's college golf.
Tournaments may draw a handful of parents and friends, and the trophy ceremony is not broadcast on the Golf Channel but recorded on a proud parent's iPhone.
But when it comes to the ACC Championships and NCAA Regionals, these often under-celebrated college players get a taste of the fame and the pressures that accompany.
“It's not just your normal tournament,” said Head Coach Andrew Sapp about the ACC Championships. “It's just one of those tournaments that everybody points to on the calendar, each and every year.”
With eleven out of the twelve teams ranked in the top 50 in the country in this year's tournament, the ACC Championships is a breeding ground for the game's next stars. Cameras flock to record the best talent, which admittedly can throw off the players.
“ACCs is just kind of a big deal, a lot of coverage, media and everything, so that kind of had an effect,” said freshman Ben Griffin. “It was just a bigger environment with more people watching and that just was a little different from previous events.”
Griffin, the Chapel Hill native who took home individual and team honors at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate and the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate this season, admitted the team struggled a bit on the first day. The Tar Heels carded a 5-over-par 293 in the opening round. But bearing down as a team helped eliminate the pressure heading into the weekend.
“We were really motivated to put the foot on the pedal and really get after it the last two days,” Griffin said. “We really had nothing to lose.”
That drive and commitment pushed the Tar Heels to finish with the second-lowest team score on Saturday at 6-under 282 and a 9-under 279 on Sunday, closing the tournament with a fifth place finish at 10-under 854.
All due to focusing the pressure on striving for success. With NCAA Regionals around the corner at Carolina's own UNC Finley Golf Course, the trick is to put it all in perspective.
“The pressure is just knowing you have to play well for your team,” said William Register. “I don't think there will be any added pressure just because we play out here all the time.”
Register, the other half of the freshman duo who took home two titles of his own this season, including one in record-breaking fashion at the Primland Collegiate Invitational, knows the key to maintaining the focus is all in the head. Even if there are cameras everywhere.
“Some people get nervous about it, but I think it's cool to have the cameras and be on television if we make it far enough,” Register said. “It's kind of like an added motivation.”
And what about the pressure of playing one's own course?
“The only drawback that could come into play would be you go out there and shoot a 70 in the first round, and the only thing you think is, 'Wow, I should have shot a 67 because I play here all the time, and I know it,” said Carter Jenkins. “And that's when you have to step back and realize, 'Hey. A 70 is still a great round, and then you can go out tomorrow and shoot your 67.'"
Jenkins recently adopted UNC Finley as his home course after transferring from UNC Greensboro in the winter. And after traveling to Regionals last year with the Spartans, Jenkins knows how to handle the pressure.
“It's all in your mind,” Jenkins said. “If you blow it up and think, 'Oh man, we're playing NCAA Regionals. If we get through here, we get to go to the National Championship.' If you blow that up in your mind, then you can put pressure on yourself to perform.”
Yet according to Sapp, a home course advantage definitely helps this team more than it hurts.
“In golf, you do have a huge home course advantage, so it'll be fun,” Sapp said. “These guys know our golf course, they love our golf course, so it's an advantage in that way in that one, they can sleep in their own beds and not have to worry about hopping on an airplane to fly across the country. Two, they're playing a golf course that they know and love, so it's a huge advantage.”
With teams like Florida State, Stanford, Wake Forest, and Clemson in this regional, much of the attention will be focused on Chapel Hill next weekend. Cameras will line the golf course, leaderboards constantly updating with minute-by-minute stats and scores. And that is not lost on these guys.
“It definitely makes you think a little more,” Griffin said. “It causes you to focus. In some cases, it's good, and in some cases, it's bad. You kind of want to do your best, but at the same time, there's a little added pressure.”
But ultimately, it's all about the game.
“In the end, it's just you and that white ball and the golf course and trying to get it in the hole,” Sapp said. “You can internalize a whole lot of pressures, but the pressure that they have comes from themselves wanting to win.”
So bring on the cameras and pressures. These guys can handle it.
...
The Tar Heels will host one of six NCAA Regional Championships May 14-16, 2015 at UNC Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C. For more information about the regional, participating teams, or schedule, please visit GoHeels.com.
