Men's Golf Team Ready to Shine
June 21, 1999 | Men's Golf
January 27, 1999
LOS ANGELES - With last year's entire roster returning and joined by two highly touted freshmen, USC Director of Golf Kurt Schuette has reason to be excited about his Trojan program.
"Talent-wise, I think we're capable of playing up to the high standard that we set for this program a couple years ago," Schuette said. "We have quite a bit of depth. I can't say we have a weak link. Any one of our nine guys can step up and be a top player. They are all capable of playing to that level."
In only four seasons, Schuette has already coached five All-Americans, nine All-Pacific-10 Conference performers and one Academic All-American, while leading USC to two Top 10 finishes. In 1999, he's looking to add to those numbers.
"During the fall season we were slow in developing, but we learned a lot. Although the fall results were not at the level we are striving for, I still feel we will establish ourselves at the end of the year as a Top 20 team," Schuette said. "With the addition of our two freshmen (John Ray Leary and Kevin Stadler), it's going to be competitive to just stay on the travel squad, which will help everyone improve by the end of the year. We're aiming to be competitive for the Pac-10 title and qualify for the national championships with intentions to be competitive there as well."
The upperclassmen leading the charge will be senior Charlie Woerner, junior Nick Webb and senior Jorge Corral.
"We feel that Charlie, Nick and Jorge are now ready to step up to the plate and fill the shoes of the three All-Americans that we lost two seasons ago," said Schuette, referring to Chad Wright, Brian Hull and Roger Tambellini (the 1997 U.S. Amateur medalist). "We feel like they have the experience and are mature enough to handle that responsibility and lead the team back to the top."
Last year, Woerner played in all 12 of USC's tournaments and tied for the lowest stroke average on the team (74.3). It was quite a comeback for him after being limited to just four outings as a sophomore in 1996-97.
"Charlie worked really hard on his swing fundamentals in his first two years and he's improved his ball striking skills," Schuette said. "Now, he's reacquainted himself to the short game that he had as a top junior and when you put those two things together, there's no reason why he shouldn't be an All-American this year. For our team to be successful, Charlie is going to have to step up even more and shoot more numbers in the 60s. I think he's capable of doing that now."
Webb, who played in 24 tournaments in his first two seasons at USC, tied for the lowest stroke average on the team last season (74.3) and led the Trojans at three tournaments with two Top 10 finishes.
"Nick is really one of the best ball strikers on the West Coast," Schuette said. "He hits a high percentage of greens and has been working more diligently on his short game so that he can take advantage of his ball striking and score more in the 60s and low 70s. Nick had relied almost exclusively on his ball striking and now I think he realizes the importance of the improvement process, which means better course management and short game success. We definitely look for good things to come from Nick this spring based on his attitude and work ethic."
Corral, a native of Mexico who is a veteran of 35 collegiate tournaments (including two NCAA Championships), is USC's most experienced golfer.
"Jorge has made many improvements in his golf game and came out this fall expecting to establish himself as an All-American candidate, but he put a lot of pressure on himself," Schuette said. "He didn't qualify for any tournaments this fall while taking 18 units as a business major, which has motivated him to work even harder to be a significant player for us. He still could become an All-Pac-10 performer or an All-American. He now understands how good you need to be to be successful at this level. Jorge has always been a very aggressive player, but he has worked hard on his short game and is learning how to pick and choose his spots when he needs to be aggressive and when he needs to back off a little bit."
Sophomores Michael Chavez and Nick Jones, junior Mike Berg and redshirt freshman Nathan Nouskajian are the other veteran candidates to fill out the rest of the Trojan travel squad.
Chavez played in 11 tournaments for USC last season and had three Top 20 finishes - only a year after he won the 1997 CIF individual sectional championship and led his team to the team title.
"Michael had several Top 20 finishes as a freshman, but really didnt play up to his potential ... he'd be the first one to admit that," Schuette said. "More than anything, he needs to continue to improve. He is really working hard to become a better student, golfer and person. We can look for bright things from Michael in the future. His improvement and consistency needs to come from his short game. Michael's already a better than average ball striker."
Jones was perhaps USC's surprise player last year as he competed in nine tournaments, including a sixth-place showing at the ASU Thunderbird Savane Invitational.
"Nick is an extremely hard worker," Schuette said. "He was a very dedicated and disciplined player for us last year. Nick will only get better with his attitude and work ethic. He'll have a very good chance to become a consistent member of the traveling team."
Berg, who has played in 11 tournaments during the past two seasons (including two Pac-10 Championships), is a talented player who could have a dramatic impact on how well USC fares.
"Mike improved as much as anybody on the team in the last three to six months," Schuette said. "He has built his confidence through a more disciplined work ethic and has a better understanding of how to establish his priorities. All of this has led to him improving to the point where he could establish himself consistently on the travel squad."
Nouskajian did not compete for the Trojans last season while redshirting, but this past summer he won the Pasadena City Championship against a good field on a challenging course (Brookside No. 1).
"After redshirting last year, Nathan has worked very hard to improve his game," Schuette said. "Last year gave him a taste of what it would be like to play college golf and he plans to succeed at this level. Nathan is showing signs of being a much better player who could be capable of traveling with us on a consistent basis."
Troy's two newcomers - freshmen John Ray Leary and Kevin Stadler - have already begun to contribute to the program, each playing in two of USC's three fall tournaments.
"We're definitely excited to have them here," Schuette said. "We know that John Ray and Kevin not only will help us immediately, but they also will help us continue the building process, which takes us toward having a team that is capable of winning national championships."
Leary, who has won numerous junior and amateur golf titles, is expected to make as big an impact as any Trojan freshman in the past few years. He has already played in two fall tournaments.
"John Ray is a very talented player," Schuette said. "We look for him to be a major contributor even in his freshman year. He doesn't have a major weakness. He has learned how to manage his time better so that he will be successful in both school and on the golf course. We believe that John Ray has a very bright future here at USC and will definitely be a future candidate for All-Pac-10 and All-American honors."
Stadler, the 1997 Junior World champion, is the son of former Trojan All-American and current PGA star Craig Stadler (the 1982 Masters champion). He shares his father's witty, dry sense of humor as well as his natural golf ability.
"Kevin has a great passion for the game and with added fundamental improvements he will improve upon his consistency," Schuette said. "He definitely has the ability this year to become an All-Pac-10 performer and a future All-American. Kevin is a fierce competitor and just needs to be more patient and allow things to happen. That will allow him to shoot even lower scores when he's playing well and minimize the damage when he's not playing his best."
