BRADFORD, Pa. - The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford men's golf team returns three of its top players from last year's team that finished third in the AMCC Championship Tournament, and head coach Keith Stauffer feels with better course management his team can make a run for the title.
Zach Spicer, John Bedford and Brett Gardner are the three returners, while Tom Morlock returns after taking a year off. Stauffer feels his game is stronger than ever.
"These four players will be our nucleus," said Stauffer, who is entering his 13th season as head coach of the men's golf program. "I will rely heavily on Zach and Tom to be this year's leaders. Hopefully they will be able to help develop the others on the team."
The Panthers open the 2015 campaign at Pine Acres with the Pitt-Bradford Invitational at 1 p.m. Saturday.
"It's really important for us to get out to a good start. We need to take care of business on our home course," Stauffer said. "We have all the teams from our conference, as well as three teams from outside of the conference, coming to Pine Acres. A successful tournament will set the stage for the rest of the year."
Stauffer expects Spicer to contend for AMCC Player of the Year honors. He was a second team All-AMCC selection last season. Stauffer also said Morlock has worked very hard over the summer to get his game where it needs to be.
"Zach had a great season last year, and I think he is going to be much improved this year," Stauffer said. "Tom is playing some great golf right now, and I think having him and Zach at the top is really going to make us a tough team to beat."
John Bedford and Brett Gardner will join Spicer and Morlock in this year's starting lineup.
"John is a player who works very hard to improve. He played a lot of golf over the summer and should lower his scoring average this year," Stauffer said. "Brett has all the skills needed to be successful and gained some terrific experience in conference play last season. He will be a great performer for us if he is able to establish better course management."
Stauffer feels his squad is as good as any in the conference, but the key will be improving as the year goes on.
"We need to make sure we eliminate double and triple bogies," Stauffer said. "I am very optimistic that we can improve on last year's finish, but in order to win the AMCC we need to keep progressing throughout the year and concentrate on the process of scoring. Course management is key."
