In the interest of getting more news and information out to college golf fans, I'm going to introduce a regular department linking you to various stories about college golfers from around the country. If you see anything that I'm missing, don't be afraid to make a comment and I'll do my best to follow up.

• Unfortunately, this week starts with a horrible story out of Ball State University, where freshman Travis Smith, the team's second-best scorer, died Jan. 27 in a car accident in Muncie, Ind. Here is a link to a story in the Muncie Star Press and a link to the tribute on the Ball State website. Interestingly, one of Smith's best friends is Ohio State basketball sensation Greg Oden, who grew up with Smith in Terre Haute.
• On a lighter note, the Kraft Nabisco Championship announced its amateur invitees for the LPGA first major championship of 2007, held March 26-April 1. Collegians Jennie Lee of Duke, Taylor Leon of Georgia, Dewi-Claire Schreefel of USC and Stacy Lewis of Arkansas are among the six named, along with junior players Kimberly Kim and Esther Choe (Arizona bound next September).
• First Division I men's event of the spring concluded yesterday when UNLV won the Ping-Arizona Intercollegiate by four shots over BYU. Most amazing part of the event was that Brian Prouty, an Arizona senior, was medalist after missing the entire fall with a wrist injury. It didn't stop him from shooting an opening-round 62 that broke the tournament record. For full results, here's the Golfstat link.

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.--Say this about the current group of college coaches: they’re nothing if not passionate about their sport.

Through two days at the annual members convention of the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), there have been few dull moments. Those in charge of the men’s programs at universities large and small have had spirited discussions on numerous topics. Heck, even the awards banquet Monday night left people talking (A word of advice to those who present GCAA Hall of Fame inductees in the future: you might want to avoid 45-minute-long speeches laced with raunchy jokes.)

Two realities have emerged amid the din of debate on several of the more pressing issues. The first is that consensus on any matter is non-existent. Consider Monday’s hot-button Division I issue: whether schools should be required to have a .500 winning percentage for selection into NCAA regionals. The measure was presented by the NCAA golf committee to the Championships Cabinet, which is scheduled to vote on it the first week of February, and comes on the heels of the decision to change the structure of the post-season beginning in 2007-08, selecting the remaining 53 teams of the 81 invited to regionals (after including 28 conference winners who automatically qualify) on an "at large" basis rather than guaranteeing a minimum number of schools from each area of the country.

Proponents of the "500 rule" argue that having a winning record in order to compete in the post-season, and thus have the opportunity to qualify for nationals, is a reasonable threshold, one required in football, basketball and most every other NCAA sport. Critics contend, though, that golf is different. A team that finishes 15th out of 15 teams at a top-tier tournament might actually be the 15th best team in the country, but its record will be 0-14, an unfair hole to dig out from in order to be eligible for regionals.

During the forum on the topic, Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas noted that his team is ranked in the top 25 but only has a 33-32-3 mark through the fall season. “If I’m 54-52 and going into the last event [of the spring], I’m going to withdraw,” he said, in order to be certain his squad could play in the post-season. “I’m going to make somebody mad, but I’ve got to look out for my team.”

As it stands now, if the 500 rule were in effect, several other programs—Georgia State, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Auburn to name a few—currently ranked in the top 50 also have records below the required winning percentage, creating a fair amount of squirming among coaches.

Teams can avoid the problem by scheduling differently, perhaps playing teams that they’re more likely to beat. However, by “weakening” the fields at events, college golf runs the risk of losing the sponsors who put up dollars to hold tournaments such as the Isleworth Collegiate in Orlando and the U.S. Collegiate outside Atlanta provided they know they’re getting the best field possible. “I don’t watch college basketball until the conference season begins because you’ve got a lot of schools just playing patsies to pad their record for the NCAA Championship,” said one ACC coach. “Same with football. Now, do we really want to bring that to golf?”

Even more disagreement arose Tuesday when the discussion moved to a proposal currently under review by the NCAA Management Council, No. 2006-87, that would allow schools the option of playing nine three-day tournaments as an alternative to the current 24 days of competition. Advanced by the SEC and ACC and set for a vote in April, the idea seems fairly inclusive; it allows schools to continue with the status quo or have an alternative that would get rid of tiresome 36-hole days. Coaches at northern schools, however, were only too quick to suggest the problems it might create in that weather and other circumstances frequently force them to host two-day events and they would not get to enjoy the alternative, while warm climate schools who take part would essentially get three more days of competition.

Making matters even more confusing is that the coaches from the SEC and ACC said that the proposal as written that’s now under consideration isn’t what the conference coaches signed off on, or what the GCAA board of directors had given their approval to originally, forcing many supporters to wonder whether they should push for the proposal to be pulled back.

“It’s crazy really,” said one northern coach after more than two hours of filibustering on the topic. “We look foolish because we’re now upset with something that we were the ones trying to get passed just six months ago.”

A third polarizing area of discussion involved recruiting and whether restrictions might be needed—i.e. limiting the number of days coaches can recruit or establishing dead periods—to help improve a process that has turned into a “watching contest,” according to Oklahoma State coach Mike McGraw, where elite junior golfers come to expect coaches to attend every one of their tournaments and follow them every round. Conversely, smaller schools argue they need all the time they can get to fairly evaluate the junior player who isn’t an AJGA All-American but will round out a team.

Ultimately, on all three topics coaches had to agree to disagree. This, however, helped to accentuate the second reality of the situation: nervousness about the future is high. Decisions made one way or another on any of these topics could potentially trigger a series of consequences no one can fully appreciate (or even envision) until they occur. Quick action in the short-term could lead to slow and painful consequences in the long run. What’s the old saying about the devil you know being better than the one you don’t? It just might apply here.

Truthfully I can see both sides of the debate on all three of issues the coaches are wrestling with, and appreciate the different points of view. When it comes down to which way they should go on the matter, I think it’s important to consider what Georgia coach Chris Haack offered during Tuesday’s discussions. Forget your personal self-interest, or that of your programs, and do what’s best for the student-athletes. That's probably the best way to let your passion for college golf be shown.

In college golf circles, the name Belén Mozo has become intriguingly renowned, the intriguing part being that the 18-year-old Spaniard has yet to play a round in NCAA competition. It’s the promise Mozo brings—she is the reigning British Ladies and British Girls champion—that leaves so many anxiously awaiting her arrival, particularly those on the campus of the University of Southern California, where Mozo enrolled this month and is set to join a team ranked 13th in the final fall Golf World college coaches' poll.

I called USC coach Andrea Gaston last week 1) to confirm that Mozo did arrive in Los Angeles as expected and 2) to inquire about how Mozo might acclimate to the team considering she is coming in during the middle of the season.

Indeed, Mozo arrived in SoCal as scheduled and has started classes. (Don’t joke … the most nervous I’ve seen some college coaches is in the few days before an international golfer is suppose to come stateside, the fear that a last-minute change of mind might wreck future plans. I know of one assistant who was thisclose to flying to Europe just to make sure a prized recruit got on his scheduled flight.)

As for how she might fit in having not been part of the squad the first half of the season, Gaston was quick to note that Mozo knows many of the current Lady Trojans from an earlier visit and has played with and against many in Europe previously. “I feel she’s going to adapt very well,” Gaston said. “She’s a very outgoing person and so getting along with her teammates isn’t a major concern. It’s more merely making adjustments to being in a new place.”

Suffice it to say, Gaston has some experience in bringing in international players in mid-season. In 1998 she welcomed Jennifer Rosales, who proceeded to win the NCAA title that spring. In 2005 Dewi-Claire Schreefel arrived from the Netherlands and a year later also had a national championship victory on her resume. Without trying to put pressure on Mozo, Gaston believes she could have the same type of results once she settles into the States.

“She knows how to win tournaments,” Gaston said. “What I like about her game is she’s a feel player who can adjust her swing on the fly. She’s kind of like Jennifer from that standpoint. She doesn’t need a lot of instruction and can really rely on herself.”

Will Mozo live up to all the hype? My gut says yes. For one, she has legitimate game. Secondly, she has an advantage in the fact that USC’s first event of the spring is the Regional Challenge at Palos Verdes GC, 20 miles south of LA. Coincidentally, the facility is one that the team practices at. Considering how treacherous the greens are, getting a sneak peak will help the newcomer feel more certain, allowing her to likely get off on a strong foot.

With a little confidence, it’s my guess she’ll settle in and make it seem like she’s been with the team since September. In the process, she might become a littel less intriguing but likely more renowned. 

SEBRING, FLA. In and of itself, a three-shot victory at the 52nd Harder Hall Women's Invitational last week doesn't make University of Virginia senior Leah Wigger a front runner to claim the NCAA title come May. It does, however, offer a glimpse into just how talented the 22-year-old two-time All-American is and why you might want to keep an eye on her as the spring season begins in the next few weeks.

Following Wigger for her final 36 holes last week at Harder Hall CC (while working on a piece for Golf World's just launched Amateur section on the four women's events that make up the Orange Blossom circuit) I personally can vouch for the fact her win didn't come because she had total command of her driver. On the contrary, it seemed like the 2005 NCAA runner-up had developed an allergy to the fairway, a low duck hook making her mother, Lynn, more than a bit anxious in the crowd and suggesting the rust hadn't been totally knocked off her swing before she left her Louisville home for central Florida.

"The good news is that that's the swing flaw I've got, the low hook," Wigger said Saturday afternoon (photo by Stephen Szurlej). "When it happens, I usually know what I've got to do to compensate."

Apparently one thing is pretend you're a younger version of Annika Sorenstam with your irons. For as wild as Wigger was off the tee, it looked like she was in mid-summer form with her approach shots to the green. How else could she have opened with the only sub-par score of the first round (69), then posted a 67 Saturday afternoon to give herself a commanding five-shot lead through 54 holes (a 67 despite hitting less than half her fairways).

Most impressive was Wigger's finish to her third round Saturday, where she birdied her final three holes, rolling in putts of 12, 6 and 10 feet. This after she and the others in her final foursome (Auburn's Candace Schepperle, Vanderbilt's Jacqui Concolino and high schooler Sally Watson) were put on the clock by a rules official. "It was like that jump started her or something," Concolino joked afterward.

Actually, what strikes me most about Wigger--and why you need to remember her name come the post-season's her ability to bounce back after a bad hole. Saturday, while starting off the 10th tee, she bogeyed the 12th hole, only to make birdie on the 13th. After a bogey on the second hole, she birdied the third, the most difficult hole on the course.

Sunday, Wigger bogeyed the par-5 first hole and when Schepperle (an 18-year-old freshman who was pretty impressive herself last week en route to a runner-up finish) birdied it, the two-shot swing suggested we might have more excitement in Sebring than first thought. But back-to-back birdies by Wigger on the fourth and fifth holes stretched the margin back to five, allowing the woman who has already decided to turn pro after the college season play the Futures Tour to coast to a tournament-record tying eight-under 280 and her second national amateur title within a year.