TOWSON, Md. – If the Tigers plug two huge holes in their regular five-man rotation then men's golf coach Brian Yaniger sees no reason why Towson can't climb right back into the Colonial Athletic Association race as a top contender.

The gaps in the lineup were created by the graduations of Joe Gunerman and Matt Fry, two mainstays for Towson the past three years. Over that period each played in all 30 events. Gunerman was Towson's low finisher in 15 of those tournaments, winning two of them and placing second in another. He was a two-time second team All-Conference player.

"I've never had a player improve as much over four years as Joe Gunerman did," says Yaniger, who enters his 18^th season as Towson's coach. "When he first showed up here he was a total after-thought. But he worked hard enough to become one of the best players ever at Towson. He's going to be a big miss."

Fry put in a steady four years. He played more events (38) and more rounds (102) than any other Tiger during that span, averaging 76.5 for his career.

"Matt Fry did things the right way," Yaniger says. "He was well-mannered, well-spoken and brought an incredible class to the Towson program."

The departed duo chipped in to help the Tigers post their most successful regular season in the history of the program. In 11 tournaments, they claimed three first place team trophies, three runner up spots, one third and two fourth place finishes. The three team championship performances in one season tie a school record.

Yaniger, though, is accustomed to reloading and adept at developing players in the program. "We've got plans in place," he confides.

Before he bemoans his losses Yaniger can revel over a returning group of letterwinners that include several starters and a couple of holdovers who have shown marked improvement.
Any current discussion about Tiger men's golf has to begin with sophomore Juan Veloza who became just the second freshman in the 31-year history of the CAA men's golf tournament to win medalist honors. That title earned him a trip as an individual to last spring's NCAA Regional.

"When he came here I knew he was pretty good but he surpassed my wildest expectations," says Yaniger. "In his very first intercollegiate tournament at Navy I caught up with him at the seventh tee and I asked him how he was doing. He said fine. He was five. I said five over. He said no, five under."

Veloza brushed off an opening round 74 to come back with a six-under 65 that day. The score proved to be the tournament's low round and it stood up as the best 18 holes played by a Tiger in 2013-14.

"The best part about Juan's game is he doesn't care how far he hits the ball," the coach says. "He hits it on to the fairway. Then he hits it on to the green and if he makes putts he'll shoot 66. If he doesn't make putts he'll shoot 73. You can't get in much trouble if you hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. That's how he plays."

Veloza averaged 74.2, second on the squad to Gunerman's 73.7. However the Cali, Colombia native led the Tigers with eight rounds under par. He was a top 10 individual finisher a team high seven times. He tied for 67^th at the NCAA Regional.

Senior Sam Stewart (75.2) and junior Ryan Siegler (76.3) are expected to contribute heavily once again. Each played 10 events. Stewart finished tops for the Tigers twice, claiming second at the Joe Agee on the strength of a career low 66 and fourth overall at the Pirate Intercollegiate.

"Of all players on the team Sam and Juan are the two most likely to shoot 64 or 65," says Yaniger. "Sam is an integral part of this and we'll need him to play well if we're going to challenge for the conference championship again."

Siegler got off to a fast start last year with a 2-under 140 for a fifth place at Navy but then slumped and didn't fully recover until the CAA Championships.

"Ryan has tremendous ability," Yaniger says. "He's put up some of the best rounds on our team over the last couple of years. But he has to eliminate that bad round. When he plays well that bodes very well for the team."

From this point Yaniger has those holes to plug.

Junior Alex Church (77.8) is one of the leading candidates. Although he has struggled his first two years on the college course (eight events, 22 rounds) after reigning as one of the MIAA's best in his senior year at Calvert Hall, his performances over this past summer suggest he's making a comeback.

"Something happened this summer and the light has come for him," Yaniger says. "He has had a phenomenal summer. We're counting on him to be in the mix this year and be a factor. He's back to where he was – we hope."

Church placed fourth at the Frederick City Amateur Golf Championship with a 70-71-141, five strokes back of winner Chris Baloga, a former Towson golfer and team captain. He then tied for 41^st in a field of 166 at the Eastern Amateur with rounds of 72-68-71-72. If Church shoots numbers like that for the Tigers he'll have a travel spot wrapped up.

A former Maryland state high school champion, sophomore Tyler Silberberg (77.9) is another rising player who hasn't seen much tournament action yet.

"We played Tyler as much as we could last year to get him ready," says Yaniger. "We need him to be a pretty good player and we expect him to be a pretty good player. We're counting on him to make a lot of noise."

Sophomores James Grem and John Hulede plus junior Cas Dickerson complete the returning group.

"Jimmy has practiced hard, he's worked hard," says Yaniger of the son of Towson Hall of Famer, Tom Grem. "He'll have a chance to win a spot this year but he's going to have to beat the guys on the team to do it. He can do it. He certainly has the ability to make the travel team.

"John was like most of the freshmen last year, he didn't get to play a lot," says Yaniger, "but he worked hard during the summer. His numbers have improved. Now he'll have to do it during the qualifying rounds to see if he can earn a spot on the travel team."

"Cas had a really good high school career but it sort of disappeared on him for a while," the coach says. "He's working at it, hoping he can get over that final little hump to start shooting red numbers again."

Two newcomers, freshman Hiroyoshi Minakawa, a Tokyo native, and Nick Smearman from nearby Calvert Hall, round out the squad.

"I've seen Hiro play twice," Yaniger says. "His scores weren't that outstanding each time but I like how he played. It wasn't because of how he hit the ball but a couple of mental mistakes cost him his score. He's had his share of 64's and 65's so he can go low.

"We think he can be a travel team player. He had the numbers in Florida at Club Med but he needs to get those numbers at Towson Golf and Country Club and we'll go from there. We're excited he's here."

Smearman, a teammate of Grem's at Calvert Hall, has displayed consistency. Yaniger is hopeful he'll develop into a regular contributor.

Bottom line, coach: "We're competitive enough to win the conference championship. William & Mary will be very good and the College of Charleston is the defending champ. Out of our five guys on course we have at least two who can shoot 65 on any given day. You do that and you can be competitive. I think we'll have players at the three and four spots where we won't have to count a round over 74. It all depends on the day."

This year's schedule is challenging. The Tigers open at Navy where they won both of the Midshipmen's tournaments last year. Then they'll meet stiff competition on successive weekends in South Carolina and later at Colorado.

"We'll be facing some of the top teams in the country," Yaniger notes. "That three-week stretch after Navy will give us a good indication of how we're doing."
The fall schedule concludes in October with the Macdonald Cup on Yale's course which is the top rated college golf course in the nation, and at Saucon Valley for the Lehigh Invitational.


-TowsonTigers.com-