Sports

Golf program cut, as players seek last chance for a ring

by Daniel Braswell

With the regular season coming to a close and the program cut, the Winston-Salem State golf team wants to finish strong.
The team will attempt to win the CIAA Golf Championship at Lee Cardinal Golf Club in Petersburg, Va. on April 18.
The Athletic Department said that the University was cutting the golf team next year.  Both the men’s indoor track and field and outdoor track field teams will be cut also.
“We’ve been struggling financially for the past few years,” said Head Golf Coach Robert Bethea.
“I’m in favor of keeping the program going but due to the fact that the funds are not there I am 100 percent behind what my athletic director says [William Hayes],” Bethea said.
Bethea said that he and the Athletic Department would provide assistance to those who have decided transfer so that they can  play college golf at other universities.
 “We will do everything we can to help them.”
 “I talked to my players and we had a meeting so I could explain the situation to them,” Bethea said.
Despite the  uncertainty of their futures, the golf team’s players are focusing on finishing this year.  
Zachary Sheets, a sophomore from Kernersville, said that the team wants to go out as winners.
“We want to finish out good,” Sheets said.
“We just have to stay focused and go out and play our game.  Don’t worry about the other competitors. Play the course,” he said.
Coach Bethea said that having more that one of his players shoot a low score will increase the chances that the team is able to win the CIAA championship.  
Having a great individual effort by one player won’t guarantee the team coming in first place.
“In the CIAA if at least four players shoot in the 70s you are going to win,” Bethea said.
He said that the team has to be prepared to compete mentally as well.
“Talent wise we have it, but now we got to have the mental part,” Bethea said.
“Mental wise you have to think and know how to manage the golf course.”
About the confidence the team has going into this important tournament, Glendon Mabe said that he and his teammates have high belief in their abilities.
“I feel like we’re right where we need to be,” said Mabe, a sophomore from Ether, N.C.
“If we play our full potential, we’ll do good in the CIAA tournament.”
Bethea said that he plans to finish the season by living by the school’s Athletic Department motto: “Graduating student-athletes, winning championships.”