March 19, 2002
Teeing Off on the A-10
Colonials Golf Team Tees Off Spring Season with Trip
to the Bayou for University of New Orleans Collegiate Classic
By Brian
Krause
Put on the beads and order up some crawfish; the Colonials
are going to Bourbon Street for spring break.
But this isn’t a social call.
When the GW golf team arrives in the Big Easy this month, it will face
some of the most hard-hitting teams in the nation. Beginning the spring
portion of their split season at the University of New Orleans Collegiate
Classic, the Colonials hope to overcome their disappointments and build
on the successes from a mediocre fall.
Ranked 15th out of 52 schools in the mid-Atlantic, GW fell short of
its goal of reaching the top 10, but managed to score other victories.
By defeating the University of Richmond for the first time in 20 years,
they broke a 22-match losing streak against the Spiders in October at
the Old Dominion/Seascape Classic in North Carolina.
Plagued by injuries the first half of the season, the team relied heavily
on the leadership of veteran players like two-time team MVP Thomas Blankvoort
to help set the momentum. Blankvoort, a 2001 GCAA Academic All-American
and one of the top five players in the Northeast, shot an average 72.31
in the fall and won the 2001 GW Invitational in out of a field of 150
golfers.
“He carried us this fall at times when the guys in the middle of
the line up struggled,” says Head Coach Scott Allen.
Nobody knows GW golf better than Allen. Now in his eighth year as head
coach, Allen graduated from GW in 1993, where he lettered in golf four
times, started all four years, and was team captain for three years.
He also holds several University records, being the only Colonials player
in history with more than 30 rounds played to have his score count in
every match he started.
“I can relate to the guys a little better because they all know
that I have been exactly where they are and gotten through it,”
says Allen. “There is nothing that they are doing that I haven’t
done.”
This spring, Allen is looking to newcomers like Charles Taylor, who
shot 73 in the final round of the one tournament he played in the fall,
to take a leadership role on the team.
“He has worked harder than anyone this spring on his game and he
could be a real sleeper for us,” Allen says.
The team has been practicing feverishly since school began, braving
30 degree weather and winds up to 20 mph striving to break the curse
— GW has never won the Atlantic 10 Championship and has not been
to the NCAA Tournament since 1946.
“Our No. 1 goal every year is to win the A-10 and be the first
team to advance to the NCAA Tournament in over 50 years,” says
Allen. “We need to play our best if we are going to win it, but
we still have a chance.”
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
