GW golf is seeking to improve on last year’s third-place Atlantic 10 finish, coming off its best season since the late 1950s.
The Colonials have a huge advantage in experience, with only one senior graduating last year. All of the nine players returning started on a regular basis in one of the past two seasons.
Sixth-year head coach Scott Allen leads the Colonials, whose schedule is marked by seven tough tournaments this fall. The toughest might be the James Madison Invitational, which consists of the best teams in the region. The golf team also competes at the Old Dominion Invitational, which is comprised of several powerhouse Atlantic Coast Conference teams and various other southern schools.
The regional tournaments are the most important. NCAA golf is divided into nine different regions, and to make it into the NCAA Tournament at the end of the spring season, a school must either have won its conference or have finished as one of the top four teams in its region. The Colonials finished 11th in their region last year, a ranking Allen believes can be surpassed this year.
“Although we had a banner year last year, I think that we have a competitive experience that will make us tough to beat,” Allen said. “Last year, we had a younger team that made freshman mental mistakes. That shouldn’t be the case this year.”
The team is led by senior co-captains Dan Reardon and Darren Ressler, who are joined by several talented teammates, including junior Gavin Parsons, sophomore Thomas Blankvoort, and sophomore twins Bryan and Tim Derdenger.
Allen said consistency will prove to be the telling factor in GW’s success this year.
“The difference between our guys and the pros is consistency,” Allen said. “We can drive the ball just as far as anyone on tour, but how well we play our short game holds the most importance. If we can average around a 300 through one round, then we should be in pretty good shape.”
However, tournaments against A-10 teams should prove challenging. Rhode Island, Virginia Tech, Xavier and Temple all went to the NCAA Tournament last year. St. Bonaventure, Dayton and Duquesne all have improved from last season.
The Colonials already have played two tournaments this fall. The Navy Fall Intercollegiate Sept. 11-12 might be a good indicator of how the Colonials will fare this season. With an 18-team field including the top 10 teams in the region, the Colonials finished 11th. Parsons shot a team-low 73-74 (147) through two rounds, and Blankvoort also posted good numbers (76-72, 148) as the two finished 18th and 19th, respectively.
The team did not execute as well at the Yale Intercollegiate at Yale University Sept. 18-19. The inconsistency that Allen hopes to avoid struck the Colonials in New Haven, Conn. Bryan Derdenger shot a 76-74 (150) while Blankvoort, the second-place finisher, shot 83-73 (156). Those were not the numbers Blankvoort was looking for, especially coming off his strong summer play.
Despite the lackluster Yale performance, GW is still one of the top teams in the region. However, for senior captain Ressler, that isn’t good enough.
“We expect to have a great year, and we have some great young talent, and last spring we finished really strong,” Ressler said. “Team chemistry, which I think we have, is going to be a key this year, and I definitely think we have the ability to win a couple tournaments this year. One of our main goals is finish in the top three in the district, and if we work together, I think we can achieve just that.”
