The 2011-12 Webster University Golf Team enters its spring schedule looking to repeat as St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) champions, earn a return trip to the NCAA Championships, and improve on last year's 29th place finish at the Championships.
After terrific fall seasons from standouts
Kyler Scott and
Matt Vanderbeek, the Gorloks will look to them for leadership this spring. Scott, a two-time SLIAC All-Conference golfer, and team scoring average leader for the past two and a half years, looks to continue his dominance.
Vanderbeek is in just his second semester of college golf. following an impressive 10-shot victory in the Nevada state finals last spring. He will try to help improve the team with a goal of surpassing even Scott's scoring average.
"It's a lot of fun to have these two guys battling it out each event," muses Coach Andrew Belsky. "They're friends and teammates...but they're also competitive. Each one drives the other."
Freshman transfer
Tanner Rabb will add to the competiton for the top spot this spring . "The addition of Tanner to the lineup has the potential to be huge for us for several years to come," notes Belsky. "He had a nice fall season at his previous institution. In fact, he took individual honors in an event we won as a team at Anderson (IN)."
Junior
Steven Kinsman will be counted on to be a big player for the Gorloks this spring as well . Kinsman was a SLIAC First Team, All-Conference member last year, in his first season with Webster.
Other key contributors to the team’s success this season will be returners
Dan Klipsch, Andrew Noble, and
J.T. Beckmann.
“This is going to be a VERY exciting group to watch for years to come," says Belsky. "The 'oldest' members of the squad are juniors, so as we improve and grow great things are going to happen. We will be able to enjoy their hard work over a period of time, not just a single year."
The team launches out of the gate with their annual spring break trip to Florida at the Mission Inn Resort, host of the 2012 NCAA Divisin III National Championships. They follow this event with the Gorlok Spring Invitational, Illinois Wesleyan Invitational, and the Big Blue Spring Classic. These events feature nationally ranked fields of NCAA III teams.
