MEN’S GOLF
When freshman Chris Wilson tees off Thursday in the NCAA Central Regional championships, he’ll be in an unfamiliar situation.
After playing 10 team events this year, the sophomore from Dublin, Ohio, will be on his own this weekend at the Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Ind., as an individual qualifier.
Coach Pat Goss said that without a responsibility to his teammates, Wilson will be able to play more freely and aggressively. He can play with a different mindset, not having to worry about how his teammates are playing, Goss said.
Wilson also has the advantage of having Goss with him for all 54 holes. In team events, Goss has to split time between all five of his players, but Wilson is his only player in the field this week.
Goss said he will be like a caddy for Wilson, just without having to carry the bag.
“It can only help,” Goss said. “I can give him advice, and I’ll probably learn more about his game than I know now.”
Wilson last played a tournament individually in the summer. He said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to play on his own this week.
“I don’t know why, but I’ve always played better as an individual,” Wilson said. “There’s no added pressure, and I can focus on my own game.”
To move on to the national championships in Owings Mill, Md., Wilson needs to be one of the top two individual finishers who are not on a team that advances.
Coming into the Central regional, Wilson has played his best golf of the season. He finished in the top 20 in his past three tournaments, including a 13th-place finish in the Big Ten championships two weeks ago.
Wilson was the team leader with a 74.11 scoring average this year.
“I finished the fall well, and it gave me a lift,” Wilson said. “And I just continued to play better each week.”
Wilson, who earned second team All-Big Ten honors, is the fifth-seeded individual. He will be playing with two other individual qualifiers, Illinois’ Garrett Chaussard and Eastern Michigan’s Korey Mahoney.
Wilson played at Warren Golf Course in September in the Notre Dame Invitational, which was the fall preview for this Central regional.
In his two rounds in South Bend, Wilson shot an 11-over 151. He said he struggled with his putting in that tournament, so he worked a lot on the greens preparing for the Central regional.
Goss said Wilson will most likely have to finish somewhere between 4th place and 12th place to advance. The last Northwestern player to advance to the national championships was Tom Johnson in 2002.
But Wilson, who said he’s “feeling really good about my game right now,” said he’ll be trying to do more than just advance.
“I’m not going there to just move on,” he said. “I’m going there to win.”
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
