Charlotte 49ers invited to prestigious tournament

One of the tangible benefits of the Charlotte 49ers’ third-place finish in the NCAA men’s golf championship last spring comes this weekend when the team will play in the Ping/Golfweek Preview tournament in West Lafayette, Ind.

It’s like qualifying for the Masters for college teams because only the top teams from the previous season are invited. It’s played each fall at the site of the upcoming NCAA championship, which is why the 49ers will be playing at Purdue University.

"It’s one of the perks from playing well last season," coach Jamie Green said.

The 49ers, who look to have locked themselves into a spot among the top programs in the country, won their first start of the fall season last weekend at the Scenic City Invitational in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Sophomore Corey Nagy also picked up the first victory of his career in the process as the 49ers hung in rainy weather over the final nine holes.

Green is giving his team room to make some of its own rules, at least as it comes to conditioning.

When he noticed some of the players in a pick-up basketball game recently, Green decided to set some ground rules. Conditioning has become a significant part of college golf and, after a while, running stadium stairs and working in the weight room can get old.

After the players told Green they liked basketball – which has been known to produce jammed fingers and twisted ankles – he agreed they could play but only under his rules and his supervision.

"I call every foul," Green said. "I don’t care about the score or the competitive standpoint. If you foul anybody or go too hard, you run suicides. We goof around and try to have some fun."

It seems to be working.