In past years, Virginia's annual golfing trip to Hawaii was a time for the team to relax, bond and enjoy the beach-lined greens on the island's North Shore. But that was before the arrival of new golfing coach Bowen Sargent.
Last year, the Cavaliers seemed resigned to their status as a mediocre team trying to eke out finishes in the top half of tournament fields. After posting middle of the pack results in tournaments both last fall and this spring, including a dismal eighth place finish at the ACC championship in April, it was a time for a change.
Sargent, last year's National Assistant Coach of the Year at Tennessee, arrived in August to take over the Virginia golf program. A former N.C. State All-American golfer, Sargent sought to establish consistency and commitment for the Cavalier golfers.
"We're looking for a strong commitment level," Sargent said. "We want them to identify their weakness and practice really hard. The guys this year are really focused on winning and they're finally starting to realize their ability."
While the old staff emphasized driving and distance hitting, the new coaching staff has emphasized the little things to give the Cavaliers a new edge to their game. The team has even emphasized fitness and weight training.
"Bowen has come in and he's helped a lot in making us better," junior Brad Tilley said. "We spend so much time on working on putting and on wedges. We work really hard on 125 [yards] and in."
The team has worked on gaining a margin of error when their longer drives go somewhat astray. According to Sargent, the new emphasis on commitment and reliability has begun to pay off. Under Sargent, senior Kevin O'Connell has blossomed into what he called "a model of consistency," finishing at par or better at every tournament this fall.
"Kevin's been our most solid performer," Sargent said. "He's been on pace to have an All-American year at this point in the season. He's finished in the top 25 of every tournament so far. He's worked hard, and to see him play well is gratifying as a coach."
After a strong summer of training and gaining experience, and an influx of talent in recruits Greg Carlin and Carter Henderson, the squad now has a depth it lacked last year, when the team's fourth or fifth starter changed almost every game.
"Everyone is a little older," O'Connell said. "We were still pretty young last year. It's kind of a fresh start."
The combination of new coaching, depth and experience has yet to meld together into a tournament win for the Cavaliers. But Virginia has been far closer than in recent years, finishing third at Franklin Trust Invitational at Chapel Hill and fourth at Tennessee's Tournament of Champions in Knoxville. This week at Hawaii, winning is the only thing on the Cavaliers' minds, and after one day of play, the team stood in fourth place.
"Who wouldn't want to go to Hawaii?" Tilley said. "We're going to get there and work hard. We want to close out with a win. It's hard not to go there and get distracted, but we're pretty focused to try and execute our game plan."
As for the distractions of playing in a North Shore resort, it doesn't seem to matter for the Cavaliers this year.
"We're going there to win the tournament," O'Connell said. "We've been really close in a few events, and I think we're going to win this one. It's going to be a nice win to end the fall season."
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