On Sept. 20, sophomore Tora Fuchs lines up her putt to go on and sink the shot. Fuchs finished with a 88.9 stroke overage and hod two top-10 finishes. Noah Darnell Coach Dustin Howell, sophomore Blake Chase and junior Bruce McMullen discuss technique on the way to the green on Oct 28. Howell hod been with the golf team for three seasons, and hod nine top-three finishes. Noah Darnell Sophomore Whitney Ohlhausen makes on opening swing on her first hole of the Harding Fall Classic on Sept 22. Ohlhousen was 1st Teom AII-GSC GSC Freshman of the Year and hod a 80.3 stroke overage. Noah Darnell :' . · ···. . . -was not the only accomplishment ' After many rounds of golf, hours of practice and some memorable bus rides, the men's golf team was ready for the Gulf South Conference in the spring of 2010. According to junior and team captain Bruce McMullen,the team had been looking forward to the GSC all year, adjusting their swings and their attitudes to come in for an eighth-place finish, a Harding record. McMullen was excited about what the team accomplished, but he was not complacent about the victory. "Coach [Dustin Howell] told us that he was proud,and always is," McMullen said. "But he believes that we have a great opportunity this new season to improve and get our best statistics and finishes at the end of the year." The top two players in 2010 were sophomore Blake Chase from Colleyville, Texas and McMullen, from Cape Town, South Africa. Chase finished last season with a stroke average of 76.3, McMullen close behind him with a 76.4 stroke average. Both players had four top 10 finishes for the season and were followed closely in performance by other up-and-coming players in the freshman class. "Simply put, Harding's golf program has a great start in building a quality program for years to come thanks, to the hard work and excellent skills by our 2009-10 freshman class," Howell said. 284 athletics Winning was certainly important, but scores were not everything to the golf team, according to Chase. "Regardless of how golf was going, we were always the team that had the most fun," Chase said. "We all shared a good relationship and motivated each other, whether it was on the golf course, in the weight room, or even just being there for one another." Junior Dustin Richter agreed that team spirit and drive were what made the team a success. "All our tournaments were in neighboring states, and the bus rides were always Hired with funny stories and memories," Richter said. "We were a diver\e team with so much to offer individually, and this created a great vibe when traveling.We even went down to Florida to end our fall s&_a:son, and that was definitely the highlight for me and some of the 6'ther guys.We got some sun on the beach, played sand volleyball and stayed in a nice condo." Team spirit and unity strengthened the program and boosted team morale, as well as the scores. "Our team spirit and morale grew stronger all season long, which helped us with confidence going into the GSC in spring," McMullen said. "This year we have an ever better team and will beat records we have set in years past." james Taylor
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