University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Smith Previews 2021 Season, Part 2
2/4/2021 9:13:00 AM | Men's Golf
As the Minnesota men's golf team prepares to start the 2021 season this weekend at the Big Ten Match Play, head coach Justin Smith sat down with GopherSports.com to talk about the long journey it's taken for the team to return to the course for the first time in almost one year. Part two today focuses on what the lineup might look like this year, Coach Smith's thoughts on some of his golfers and more.
GopherSports: Do you have an idea of the guys who will be in the traveling rotation or are there still spots up for grabs?
Justin Smith: "Yeah I think you can look back even at last year, even with it as a shortened year, and look at guys that were doing well. You can look at their stroke averages, which are a big piece of it, but also how they finished in events and whether they're putting themselves in contention for winning or finishing top-10 or contributing to the team every round. So we know when you put guys into the lineup how they're going to produce and how it helps the team. We've got three or four guys that we're really comfortable with, but we're finding out in our evaluations leading into our first event at Big Ten Match Play that it's going to be really competitive for that last spot or two. And that's our job as coaches to keep finding creative ways to keep them engaged and keep them competing to where we understand whose game is sharpest at any given time. But it's also on the guys to show up every day and bring their best to help our team become the best version of ourselves."
GS: Angus Flanagan has set himself up for a strong senior season. What do you think he's capable of this spring?
JS: "He's the best golfer in our conference, there's no question about it. I think he's earned that right based on the events in the last year that he's played and even back in the fall of 2019 he was someone that had eight rounds in a row in the 60s. With Angus, it's not about reiterating specific things in front of him. It's taking it a day at a time. We harp on him a lot with what we think will help separate him from being good to great versus being elite versus being possibly the top-ranked amateur player in the world. That's something that's important to him, but he definitely has goals and things he wants to achieve before he's done here. He's got an opportunity to come back for a fifth year, and he's excited about possibly taking advantage of that. So with the new PGA Tour University, that just adds another element to how these guys can really springboard themselves into professional golf.
"But I promise you, he embraces what Minnesota is about. He loves it here and certainly wants to take advantage of every opportunity for golf, academics and personally with friends and people he surrounds himself with. Angus can be as good as he wants, and we work with him on how he spends his time working at his game, his mindset, his attitude, his commitment to what it takes to be one of the best, and that's important to him. It's a fun ride as a coach because a lot of time you stand back and let him go and let him perform. We just point him in different directions at times, but other than that there's nothing we can do to motivate him more. He's got a lot of things he's excited to do in the next few of years."
GS: How will freshmen Alex Eickhoff and Ben Warian fit in with the squad?
JS: "Just in the last couple of weeks, they've performed very well in our evaluations. They're both incredibly intelligent and they know what they can do, and they bring that every day. It's something we recruit and something we appreciate. It's about perfecting your craft; we talk about that a lot with our team, especially Alex and Ben. They're crazy competitive. They've already made an impact on our team, competition-wise. They're going to get themselves into the mix, so don't be shocked if you see one or both of them in a lineup. But they're for sure putting a lot of pressure on the guys that are used to being in the lineup consistently. They're going to raise the level of competition within our team, and for freshmen, that's all you can ask. And academically, they both had a 3.5 GPA or higher in their first semesters, so they're impact is being felt in all areas. They're a joy to have on our team and bring a fun spirit to it."
GS: Are there other specific guys you're excited to see step up or perform this spring?
JS: "I'd say all of them. Like I said, there are probably three or four guys that everyone can probably look at and see that they'll be out there for us, but we have nine guys right now that I can honestly say all have an opportunity to earn their way onto the traveling team and help this program improve and compete at the highest level. We know all of them can't do it at the same time; we can only send five out there. But all of them are going to contribute to this team, whether they're in the lineup or not because they're pushing everybody. It's been incredibly competitive in our first evaluation for our first event. That's what drives development and improvement."
GS: How good can this team be this spring?
JS: "It's a great question. On paper we've got just about everybody back from last year's team that improved a lot and a team that was on a path to make a deep run into May. And when you've got the best player in your conference on your team, every team wants that. But we have to go prove it. You don't win or play tournaments on paper. With COVID going on, we need to make sure we're making the right decisions for us when it comes to staying healthy. That's obviously the x-factor in all of this. Our goal and mentality going into this semester is probably a bit different than it would've been last year. I think it's a good 'different' though. I think as a coach I've learned a lot, and I think the players have learned a lot on how we do things and what we appreciate and enjoy doing, like being around each other and seeing Minnesota bags around the golf course again. I think when you get into the right mindset like that, I think it opens you up to being even better than you thought you could be.
"But I don't want to put any expectations on our team. I know we have high standards, and talk about standards versus expectations a lot. They know what our expectations are every day and they know the standards that we're going to play to. Minnesota golf has had a rich tradition, so those are the standards we're going to live by. We're just excited to get out there and take it a day at a time and see how good we can get. That's how we're going to approach it."
GS: Whether it's with the travel or logistics on site, but will the Big Ten Match Play be any different this year than year's past?
JS: "The format is a little different, we're only playing five matches instead of six. But I think once the tee goes in the ground, it's still going to be a very competitive environment. It's still an opportunity for us as coaches to see our team – we're going to be going down there with a younger team, there's no question we've got some freshmen and sophomores that are going to make some noise. A few of them will be down there with us. It's always encouraging as a coach to see your young talent put in those positions, but we're going down there with a purpose and putting the best five guys out there to give us a chance to win. But as long as we stay true to our process, it'll be top-notch.
"There's a lot of pride in this event. In college golf there is no conference season. So to have a conference match play, and then the next time we all get together is our conference tournament. So there's a lot of pride and it gets competitive in a hurry."
GS: What will "success" look like to you this weekend?
JS: "It's a good question because we talk a lot about defining success. I think from a coaching standpoint, there are obviously objectives that we want to get done. It's easy to say that success is winning matches or the tournament, but I think we look at it a little differently. Success for me is if we're having five individuals going out there and representing our university to the highest level. Playing the game we want to play. If we can do that, and we get beat, while we're not achieving one of our goals, it's still something we can look at development and progress in our program. Those are things we look for every day. So success is if we're playing to the way that Minnesota can play. Within our group, playing to their strengths, playing on offense, those are keys for us and if we do that, more times than not, I'll feel pretty darn good about our squad."
GS: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
JS: "I've thought about it a lot and I think the gratitude and appreciation is just different this year. This is an opportunity for us to get out and do what we love to do. For me as a coach, to see a group of guys come together and want to do it for each other that's something special. I talk about it a lot with our guys, but I tell them that this is the last time in your golf careers that you're going to be on a team like this. It's about our program, it's about Minnesota and it's about them experiencing it together. Golf is such an individual sport, so to see nine guys really come together, even if they're not competing in a match, I just can't wait to see it. I can't wait to be a part of it and help them. You just have to take a step back and appreciate these guys doing it for each other, and that's what it's all about."
GopherSports: Do you have an idea of the guys who will be in the traveling rotation or are there still spots up for grabs?
Justin Smith: "Yeah I think you can look back even at last year, even with it as a shortened year, and look at guys that were doing well. You can look at their stroke averages, which are a big piece of it, but also how they finished in events and whether they're putting themselves in contention for winning or finishing top-10 or contributing to the team every round. So we know when you put guys into the lineup how they're going to produce and how it helps the team. We've got three or four guys that we're really comfortable with, but we're finding out in our evaluations leading into our first event at Big Ten Match Play that it's going to be really competitive for that last spot or two. And that's our job as coaches to keep finding creative ways to keep them engaged and keep them competing to where we understand whose game is sharpest at any given time. But it's also on the guys to show up every day and bring their best to help our team become the best version of ourselves."
GS: Angus Flanagan has set himself up for a strong senior season. What do you think he's capable of this spring?
JS: "He's the best golfer in our conference, there's no question about it. I think he's earned that right based on the events in the last year that he's played and even back in the fall of 2019 he was someone that had eight rounds in a row in the 60s. With Angus, it's not about reiterating specific things in front of him. It's taking it a day at a time. We harp on him a lot with what we think will help separate him from being good to great versus being elite versus being possibly the top-ranked amateur player in the world. That's something that's important to him, but he definitely has goals and things he wants to achieve before he's done here. He's got an opportunity to come back for a fifth year, and he's excited about possibly taking advantage of that. So with the new PGA Tour University, that just adds another element to how these guys can really springboard themselves into professional golf.
"But I promise you, he embraces what Minnesota is about. He loves it here and certainly wants to take advantage of every opportunity for golf, academics and personally with friends and people he surrounds himself with. Angus can be as good as he wants, and we work with him on how he spends his time working at his game, his mindset, his attitude, his commitment to what it takes to be one of the best, and that's important to him. It's a fun ride as a coach because a lot of time you stand back and let him go and let him perform. We just point him in different directions at times, but other than that there's nothing we can do to motivate him more. He's got a lot of things he's excited to do in the next few of years."
GS: How will freshmen Alex Eickhoff and Ben Warian fit in with the squad?
JS: "Just in the last couple of weeks, they've performed very well in our evaluations. They're both incredibly intelligent and they know what they can do, and they bring that every day. It's something we recruit and something we appreciate. It's about perfecting your craft; we talk about that a lot with our team, especially Alex and Ben. They're crazy competitive. They've already made an impact on our team, competition-wise. They're going to get themselves into the mix, so don't be shocked if you see one or both of them in a lineup. But they're for sure putting a lot of pressure on the guys that are used to being in the lineup consistently. They're going to raise the level of competition within our team, and for freshmen, that's all you can ask. And academically, they both had a 3.5 GPA or higher in their first semesters, so they're impact is being felt in all areas. They're a joy to have on our team and bring a fun spirit to it."
GS: Are there other specific guys you're excited to see step up or perform this spring?
JS: "I'd say all of them. Like I said, there are probably three or four guys that everyone can probably look at and see that they'll be out there for us, but we have nine guys right now that I can honestly say all have an opportunity to earn their way onto the traveling team and help this program improve and compete at the highest level. We know all of them can't do it at the same time; we can only send five out there. But all of them are going to contribute to this team, whether they're in the lineup or not because they're pushing everybody. It's been incredibly competitive in our first evaluation for our first event. That's what drives development and improvement."
GS: How good can this team be this spring?
JS: "It's a great question. On paper we've got just about everybody back from last year's team that improved a lot and a team that was on a path to make a deep run into May. And when you've got the best player in your conference on your team, every team wants that. But we have to go prove it. You don't win or play tournaments on paper. With COVID going on, we need to make sure we're making the right decisions for us when it comes to staying healthy. That's obviously the x-factor in all of this. Our goal and mentality going into this semester is probably a bit different than it would've been last year. I think it's a good 'different' though. I think as a coach I've learned a lot, and I think the players have learned a lot on how we do things and what we appreciate and enjoy doing, like being around each other and seeing Minnesota bags around the golf course again. I think when you get into the right mindset like that, I think it opens you up to being even better than you thought you could be.
"But I don't want to put any expectations on our team. I know we have high standards, and talk about standards versus expectations a lot. They know what our expectations are every day and they know the standards that we're going to play to. Minnesota golf has had a rich tradition, so those are the standards we're going to live by. We're just excited to get out there and take it a day at a time and see how good we can get. That's how we're going to approach it."
GS: Whether it's with the travel or logistics on site, but will the Big Ten Match Play be any different this year than year's past?
JS: "The format is a little different, we're only playing five matches instead of six. But I think once the tee goes in the ground, it's still going to be a very competitive environment. It's still an opportunity for us as coaches to see our team – we're going to be going down there with a younger team, there's no question we've got some freshmen and sophomores that are going to make some noise. A few of them will be down there with us. It's always encouraging as a coach to see your young talent put in those positions, but we're going down there with a purpose and putting the best five guys out there to give us a chance to win. But as long as we stay true to our process, it'll be top-notch.
"There's a lot of pride in this event. In college golf there is no conference season. So to have a conference match play, and then the next time we all get together is our conference tournament. So there's a lot of pride and it gets competitive in a hurry."
GS: What will "success" look like to you this weekend?
JS: "It's a good question because we talk a lot about defining success. I think from a coaching standpoint, there are obviously objectives that we want to get done. It's easy to say that success is winning matches or the tournament, but I think we look at it a little differently. Success for me is if we're having five individuals going out there and representing our university to the highest level. Playing the game we want to play. If we can do that, and we get beat, while we're not achieving one of our goals, it's still something we can look at development and progress in our program. Those are things we look for every day. So success is if we're playing to the way that Minnesota can play. Within our group, playing to their strengths, playing on offense, those are keys for us and if we do that, more times than not, I'll feel pretty darn good about our squad."
GS: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
JS: "I've thought about it a lot and I think the gratitude and appreciation is just different this year. This is an opportunity for us to get out and do what we love to do. For me as a coach, to see a group of guys come together and want to do it for each other that's something special. I talk about it a lot with our guys, but I tell them that this is the last time in your golf careers that you're going to be on a team like this. It's about our program, it's about Minnesota and it's about them experiencing it together. Golf is such an individual sport, so to see nine guys really come together, even if they're not competing in a match, I just can't wait to see it. I can't wait to be a part of it and help them. You just have to take a step back and appreciate these guys doing it for each other, and that's what it's all about."
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