Harris stands out in second year on links

By Rick Harpster
Daily Sports Writer

In an era where athletes' off-the-field problems often dominate the sports page, the Michigan men's golf team offers a refreshing change of pace.

Michigan coach Jim Carras, who finished his 16th year as the leader of the Wolverines, works hard to recruit golfers who are quality students and individuals. In fact, the first question that he always asks recruits is how they are doing in school.

"I look for student-athletes, not athletic students," Carras said. "I want guys who know that school comes first and golf comes second."

Last year's Wolverines proved that Carras' goals have been accomplished as eight of the 15 team members received all-academic honors.

While Michigan has provided several great students and community role models, it has also produced some very talented golfers over the years. Over the extended golf history at Michigan, few have been better than current Wolverine Mike Harris.

A redshirt sophomore, Harris had a very memorable year in only his second season as a college golfer. Harris was the medalist in three of the eleven events Michigan played in, and he also contended for the Big Ten's Les Bolstad Award, which is given annually to the person leading the conference in stroke average. In 30 competitive rounds this year, Harris carded an average score of 72.2 and had five top five finishes.

"(Harris) has had one of the most outstanding years as anyone in my 20 years here," Carras said. "He is also a great, smart kid who is very modest through his times of success."

Despite Harris' tremendous season, the Michigan golf team struggled at times last year due to its lack of experience and depth. Each team takes five golfers to every tournament, with the four lowest scores used to calculate the overall team score. After losing six players to graduation the previous year, Carras just could not get the necessary consistency out of the bottom part of his lineup.

Keith Hinton proved to be a solid No. 2 player by posting an average score of 75.1 throughout the season, while Kevin Vernick's average score of 75.9 filled the third spot.

Unfortunately for Michigan, no one really stepped up to win the fourth and fifth positions as six different golfers occupied those spots at some point in the year.

Although Hinton and Vernick were lost to graduation this year, the rest of the Wolverine team will be returning next year. This should provide plenty of competition for the opportunity that four of these golfers will have to join Mike Harris and win one of the top five spots in the lineup.

They will also have two new teammates as Carras was able to bring in two talented recruits this year. Andrew Chapman from the Flint area and Andy Matthews of Grand Rapids will compete for playing time on next year's Wolverine squad. In addition to battling for playing time, Chapman and Matthews also must live up to the Michigan tradition of excelling in the classroom and becoming outstanding citizens of the community.

09-08-98