Sophomore Doug Sanders hits the peak of his swing as he prepares to drive the ball down the fairway. Sanders competed in four events during the 2001 season and shot a season low round of 79. • I Lo for THE GREENS With the 2001 season tucked under their belts, there was a lot in store for the golf team in 2002. The top two golfers from last season, Jeff Powell and Stan Short, both graduated and left behind some responsibility for the others who were still in the hunt of a winning season. Golf is an individual sport, so when it comes down to looking at Harding's team statistics, they are not immediately impressive. Individually, however, several striking scores were on the card. In team golf, the top few scores are tallied to place competitors in the standings. The top few players on each team have to hit well on the course to produce the lowest scores possible. "The team got off to a good start last year but ended up having a bad year," senior Jared Smith said. "There is a whole lot of talent on the team, but when it came down to the tournaments, not everyone was playing their best golf, so the team as a whole suffered in the standings." Harding's top players last year, Powell and Short, both showed impressive numbers and had several good showings at the big tournaments. Powell ended the year with an impressive four top-ten finishes out of only eight tournaments. Short was just behind him with three top 20 finishes through eight tournaments. Smith ended the year with two top 20 finishes as well. The team finished the season at the Gulf South Conference Tournament in 250 athletics Hot Springs, Ark. in 9 th place. Smith said he is excited about next season, despite losing several senior team members. "It's going to hurt us as a team to lose our top players, but I'm working hard on my game, and I'm looking to win a tournament this year," he said. "Everyone is working hard on their games, and I think that we might be able to pull out a few good showings this year. I'm really looking forward to playing on new courses that we haven't seen yet." -Aaron Snow Photo by Andrea Waters Sophomore Dustin Taylor attempts to chip his ball out of the bunker to save par. Taylor shot a season low of 84 at the Drury/Deerfield Inn Classic. ~ Photo by Andrea Waters
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