It’s clear the Berry College Men’s Golf team has had a successful fall, and to a large extent, Ryan Elmore is to thank.
The Vikings were ranked second in the nation in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) poll as of Oct. 23. They won three out of their five fall tournaments, finishing out at the Chick-fil-A Invitational with what head coach Brian Farrer called, “a great way to end the fall season.” The Vikes placed first among 18 teams.
While the team won’t play again until the spring season, there’s an impressive record and a SAA ranking to savor over the winter. At the forefront of this success is junior Ryan Elmore.
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| Michael Shaw, columnist |
Elmore led Berry in scoring in all but one tournament this season, coming in at par or under par in seven rounds. The NCAA Division III PING All-American won every tournament individually that Berry won as a team, and that kind of consistency is rare at any level.
Personal Play
The results didn’t spring from dust, either. These numbers are a natural transfer from Elmore’s attitude and character. As for his attitude, the word is ambitious.
“My goal this past semester was to win two [tournaments] and get to the No. 1 ranking in the country, and I still want to do that,” he said. “You have to do that with consistent play more than anything.”
Granted, a player never single-handedly makes a team, even in the relatively solitary sport of golf. Drew Kosko, Tommy McCloski, Eddy Black and Joel Maire also turned in scorecards this fall with impressive numbers. Each averaged scores under 74.
And this matters to Elmore.
If there’s one thing he focuses on as much as his own personal success, it’s the team’s success.
“That’s really the part you’re happy about,” he said. “Trophies are cool, but it’s not fun if your team doesn’t win.”
This mindset made scoring fourth at last year’s national championship less of a personal victory for Elmore, because while he took away a trophy, the team didn’t get to celebrate a win.
“We had just lost a national championship, and that’s really all you think about,” he said. “It just doesn’t matter as much if your team doesn’t win.”
The Bigger Picture
Combine ambition and character and you get Elmore’s confidence in his team’s success come spring.
“Win our conference and win a national championship,” he said. “That’s the goal. If we stumble a little bit getting there, that’s fine, but because we’re ranked No. 2 now, we don’t really have anywhere to go but to No. 1. I definitely think we can get there. I definitely know we can win a national championship.”
Just like Elmore’s success, though, this confidence in the future of the team has a source. Progress had to be made. The Vikings climbed their way up to No. 2. The hard work paid off, and Elmore said the better scores boosted team morale.
“Our team knows how to win,” he said. “Seeing our name on the leaderboard is something we’re more familiar with, that we weren’t comfortable with last year.”
What do we have to expect next, then?
Well, only a junior, Elmore has three seasons of great golf left. So we can expect him to continue to lead the Vikings this spring.
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