Michigan men's golf looks to regain 'balance' of old

Carras, Harris looking for four or five consistent scorers

Everything in life needs to be balanced. One needs a good balance between work and play. In sports, each team needs to be balanced in order to perform at its highest level.

No one knows this better than Michigan men's golf coach Jim Carras.

Five golfers from each team participate in a tournament, with the four lowest scores being counted. The highest is thrown out.

Therefore, two or three good scores each weekend is not going to cut it.

FILE PHOTO The Michigan men's golf team is hoping to recapture the form that made it tough to beat two years ago. To get there, the Wolverines need consistent play from four or five men.

"For us to achieve the kind of success we desire, I use the word 'balance,'" Carras said. "We need to have four people play well. We'd like to have five, but we need to have four. If our four best scores are 77, 78, 79 and 80, we will not do as well.

"Two years ago we had seven good players recording four good scores. What we need are good No. 4 and No. 5 men.

"We need to know that we have a good enough balance that we can put five guys in there and know that four are going to play well."

During the aforementioned season, the Wolverines qualified for both the NCAA regionals and finals. Last season, Michigan finished fifth in the Big Ten and did not see NCAA tournament action.

Carras said that some of this year's goals include returning to the success of 1997.

"We want to improve upon last year's season," Carras said. "First of all, we have every hope of improving on our Big Ten standing.

"Secondly, we want to return tothe NCAA regionals and finals, as we did in 1997. We want to get back to the finals."

So the question is: How? How do they get back to the finals?

The answer seems to be balance. So, how do the Wolverines achieve such balance?

Michigan returns all-Big Ten team member Michael Harris, while Carras said that junior Mike Affeldt and sophomore Scott Hayes are both performing well on the greens.

"We certainly have one of the best coming back in Harris," Carras said. "He's the captain of our team, and he's our anchor. But, if we depend totally on him, we'll be in trouble. Affeldt and Hayes look like they're playing rather well right now. Of the five returning starters, those three are showing the kind of strength that we need."

In terms of the four and five men that Carras says balance out the team, the Wolverines may find them in youth.

"Based on the play of the kids so far, we have some very young kids - both true freshmen and redshirt freshmen - who may give us the balance we need. The key term for us is balance."

09-09-98