Puryear: Spartans' best might be yet to come
By Cash Kruth (Last updated: 09/17/09 11:29pm)Sam Puryear is in his third season as the head coach of the MSU men’s golf team, but how much the program has changed under his guidance only now might begin to be seen.
Although Puryear has continued to build on the solid tradition of Spartans golf by winning a Big Ten Championship in his first year and guiding individual golfers to another successful season in 2008, Puryear truly believes the best is yet to come for the program.
“To me, this is a really exciting time for Michigan State golf,” Puryear said. “Now we can build a really solid championship foundation and go forward.”
One reason for Puryear’s excitement is the success individual golfers have had during summer tournaments. Last season, senior Jack Newman won the U.S. Amateur Public Links and qualified for the 2009 Masters. This year, sophomores Chris Mory and Jimmy Dewling each had successful summers — with Mory winning the GAM Championship — after seeing significant action at the end of their freshman seasons.
The improvement of those two players, as well as the addition of freshman James Ross and Will Morris, make up a couple of key losses from last year’s team.
Payne Gniewek — who played in 11 events as a junior last season — transferred from MSU to Baylor at the end of last season, mainly to be closer to his teaching professional, who is located in Austin, Texas. Another disheartening loss was Graham Baillargeon, who played in 12 events last season as a sophomore. Baillargeon is trying to take time away from the game after a disappointing performance in last year’s Big Ten Tournament.
Those losses aside, Puryear is excited about the future of the program, mainly because the team returns all but one golfer from the lineup they took into last year’s NCAA South Central Regional.
“What we have now is that much more important, and we have some great guys here,” Puryear said. “It actually opened up some chances for some other guys because everybody that played in our regional, with the exception of Payne, is back. … In all honesty, we have the same team back, just minus the one guy.”
Topy Cup experience
Puryear billed the Topy Cup as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and less than a week after returning from Tokyo, Puryear said the event was everything he and the Spartans had hoped for.
“I think for the guys it really opened their eyes. If you can imagine a city with 30 million people, I mean it’s unbelievable,” Puryear said. “The food was totally different. The guys were excited to see McDonald’s.”
The Spartans competed in the 27th annual Topy Cup in Japan last weekend, finishing seventh. Although the Spartans were hoping for a better team performance, the chance to experience a different culture was something they soon won’t forget.
Among the most difficult tasks was trying to travel around the city on their off day taking the subway and bullet trains. Luckily for the Spartans, Puryear said they had sophomore and “master navigator” Dan Ellis, who followed the color-coded lines on the subway map to make sure the Spartans knew where they were.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing to get to go to a country as far away as Japan and see their culture,” Ellis said. “Barring the golf we played, it was a great experience for me.”
Spartan Classic
For the second consecutive year, the men’s golf team will host the Spartan Classic in the Upper Peninsula at The Kingsley Cup.
Puryear said one reason for playing the tournament away from Forest Akers West Golf Course is to promote the fact that MSU is the state school in Michigan. Another is to highlight the golf in northern Michigan, which is widely known to have some of the best courses in the nation.
The 54-hole event will begin with 36 holes Saturday and 18 holes Sunday. Five of the 14 teams in the tournament are traveling from California, and the Spartans will have two teams in the tournament, allowing all of their golfers to participate.
Originally Published: 09/16/09 9:36pm
Spartanfan
09/17/09 1:49pmRandy Huchtinson—Jordan Ensrud—Phil Snow—Graham Birshon—Payne Gwenick—All gone without playing their full amount of elilgibility. Perhaps you mis quoted the coach…when he was quoted“We have the same team back except one guy..REALLY what happened to the 4 mentioned above? What ever happened to Grant Tungate? Steve Cuzzort?Now A transfer from Cleveland State? Who averaged 77.8 Wow cant wait this team perform.
student
09/17/09 2:08pmThey either graduated or left to pursue professional careers.
student 123
09/17/09 10:09pmEither graduated or left to pursue pro careers that’s bs. Phil snow now at a juco in california. Graham visiting other colleges. Payne now plays for baylor. Tungate has basically quit golf and cuzzort transfered to eastern michigan and almost won division 2 national championship as a individual. All those things happen because of Sam Puryear
student 123
09/17/09 10:10pmEither graduated or left to pursue pro careers that’s bs. Phil snow now at a juco in california. Graham visiting other colleges. Payne now plays for baylor. Tungate has basically quit golf and cuzzort transfered to eastern michigan and almost won division 2 national championship as a individual. All those things happen because of Sam Puryear
golf_fan
09/17/09 10:22pmCONCERNEDFAN: I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with Coach Puryear. As a parent that attended the same dinner, I never saw Coach Puryear step out of line.
SPARTANFAN: Perhaps you should complete your research prior to making public posts. Jordan transferred to MSU from another instution and both he and Randy exhausted all of their eligibility which is why they are not playing this year.
It’s not unusual for student-athletes to change schools when there is a change in the coaching staff.
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rainy
09/18/09 9:42amI find it disturbing any time a reporter, or author of an article, does not get the facts straight. Shame on Cash Kruth for not doing a better job on that! In favor of golf_fans comment, it would be in the best interest of all who have some connection to MSU golf, whether past or present, to think of the young men who remain on the team. So much is ‘out of their control’ and it will remain that way.
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Balanced Golf Fan
09/19/09 3:52pmIs it the intent of the MSU men’s golf program detractors to have the ones who support it and the coach to take an in depth look into the factors that contributed to the exits of the following players? If what we find impugns the character of any of the young men in question, how do we report this and what purpose will it serve? How does it serve the interest of the Spartan Program for the coach to speak negatively about the past, as opposed to affirmatively for the future.
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student 123
09/30/09 1:08pmlook at what has happen to this golf program 3 big ten championships in a row then a 11th place finish. now you people will say well puryear won one of those championships and thats true but he did it with the team hankins put together, not only do we need to think about the 3 kids that left over the summer, phil,graham, and payne, but what about 2 recruits that verbally committed and then didnt come.
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