There has been a running joke the past few years regarding Illinois men's coach Mike Small and how his game has been better than any of his Illini players. It becomes a hard point to refute, however, with Small being named the PGA of America's professional player of the year for a second straight season.

The 41-year-old has become the most dominant player in the history of the Illinois PGA section, winning six Illinois PGA titles and four Illinois Opens. He finished tied for second this year at the PGA Professional National Championship, and while missing the cut at the U.S. Open in June, he did finish T-69 at the PGA Championship in August at Southern Hills.

Seriously, when you look at Small's scoring average in PGA Tour events the past few years, it's easy to see how he could be considered the Illini's real No. 1 player.

          Small                        Illinois' team stroke average
2007    76.5 (6 rounds)         75.8 (2006-07 season)
2006    71.4 (27)                  75.1
2005    74.3 (8)                    Not available
2004    72.5 (6)                    74.9

He made a lot of news earlier this month for becoming the first amateur golfer to advance to the final stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School since the USGA allowed amateurs to do so in 2001. Yet after finishing tied for 149th at Orange County National outside Orlando, and earning only a conditional card on the Nationwide Tour, UNLV junior Seung-Su Han has decided to stay an amateur and will play for the Rebels during the spring season.

"I love it here at UNLV and I still think there is a lot more I can learn here," Han said in a press release. "By coming back and remaining in school and spending more time here, I feel that I can become even more ready by the time I turn pro. That was a big thing for me, that I want to be more ready for when I am out there [professionally], and I obviously think UNLV is a great place for that."

I must admit, I was surprised at all the media attention Han received in recent weeks. Yes, being the first collegiate in this position is historic and how he fared should have been of interest (as was the case with Florida senior Sandra Gal playing at LPGA Tour Q school this month, where she earned a full card and decided to turn pro). It's just that I think some of the media took Han's potential "trailblazing" a bit too far.   

No doubt if Han had performed better and earned a PGA Tour card, or even a full Nationwide card, he would have turned the heads of his fellow collegians while likely turning pro himself. But he wouldn't have caused any floodgates to open. For starters, the $4,500 entry fee helps prevent many players from acting on their daydreams too hastily. Han's contemporaries also need to realize just what it took for him to even get to the final stage: Nine rounds over nearly nine weeks, where he had to shoot 47 under par just. 

College coaches I'm convinced would begin to step in and "steer" any players not really prepared for Q school from heading in that direction if the numbers suddenly began to rise. (UNLV coach Dwaine Knight was surprisingly supportive of Han; I'm not sure that would have been the universal approach.) Will we see more players follow Han's lead? Definitely. But I wouldn't expect any more than a handful to try this in any given year. The USGA changed its rules almost six years ago, with the NCAA allowing for it in the last few years; don't you think there would have been the much-feared exodus already if it was considered such a viable option?

If you're really looking for ominous precedents, it's Gal that should be the cause for concern for fans college golf fans. Consider that Gal only had to go through one stage of qualifying to get LPGA International in the first place, making it a much easier road to follow. Moreover, Gal's excellent play in the first stage of Q school and the finals (she finished T-14) provides additional evidence of something many have been saying for quite some time now: the gap between elite female amateur golfers and female professionals is pretty narrow. Despite Florida women's coach Jill Briles-Hinton pleading with Gal not to turn pro immediately after her final round at Q school, the choice was a pretty easy one for the native of Germany to make.

This comes in concert with top junior golfer Vicky Hurst recently announcing that she's going to turn pro next year, making it six straight AJGA girls' players of the year that have skipped college for pro golf. With young players such as Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer having success on the LPGA Tour, if Gal performs well in 2008 you might see more female collegians give Q school a try.

The 2008 Division I Men’s Golf Championships handbook has been posted on the NCAA’s website (click here for a link to where you can download a PDF version), and it outlines the format of competition for the three regionals and national championship to be played next spring (the women’s edition is also now online). Fans who have been following the proposed changes to the NCAA Championship set forward by the NCAA men’s golf committee might be surprised to see that the handbook outlines a national championship where golfers compete for 72 holes for the individual title, rather than the much anticipated (and somewhat controversial) change to crowning a medalist after 54 holes.

There is an explanation: What’s not online is an accompanying memo sent by committee chairman Mike Holder to college coaches that explains how the NCAA is continuing to review the recommendation of a 54-hole winner for the 2008 championship and that the handbook could be amended in the future pending the proposal’s approval. Donnie Wagner, NCAA assistant director of championships, told Campus Insider earlier today that he had the handbook written in September and had been waiting to put it online until the proposal had been approved or rejected but felt something needed to go up on the website at this point given that half the season had already been completed. Wagner anticipates that that requested change for a 54-hole winner should be ruled on by NCAA prior to next month’s GCAA annual convention in Orlando. Holder and others suggest that all indications are the NCAA will approve the measure.

One other interesting thing can be found in Holder's memo to coaches: the NCAA’s decision to expand the number of regionals from three to six beginning in the 2008-09 season will allow 27 additional individual players to compete in the postseason. The NCAA committee will include conference medalists among those players if they already aren’t on a team that’s selected to compete at regionals.

Call it AQs for individuals.

Finally, the award we've all been waiting for. And the winners are ...

PLAYER OF THE (MID)YEAR
MEN
Stefan Wiedergruen, Charlotte
His numbers this fall speak for themselves: the junior won two tournaments, was runner-up in a third and posted a 69.83 stroke average with six of his 12 rounds being 68 or lower. What's interesting to note, though, is that Wiedergruen actually didn't qualify for the 49ers first tournament of 2007-08, the Scenic City Invitational. Charlotte coach Jamie Green had to use one of two wild-card selections to bring the 23-year-old German along to Chattanooga, Tenn., where he finished tied for second.

Even after winning the Ping/Golfweek Preview in his next start, Wiedergruen wasn't positive about his spot in the line-up. "We're sitting in the airport after this event," Green recalled, "and somebody asked him something about the next tournament and he said, 'Well, I'm not sure I'm going.' "

Suffice it to say, Green has a player he can rely on in Wiedergruen, who didn't sulk about being left out in the line-up during the postseason a year ago for the 49ers, but instead got to work around the greens during the summer, shoring up the weak spot in his game. "We changed a couple of things on my grip," he said earlier this fall, "and I just spent more time on the putting green than I have before."

Wiedergruen contends that the depth of competition on the country's No. 3-ranked team is what eventually led him to his fall success. "It's really forces you to get better and work on your game every day," he says. "If you're No. 1 all the time and don’t have any trouble to stay No. 1, you probably don't have to do anything. Because it's so competitive you try to work as hard as you can and work every day to get ahead of the guys and get into the line-up. That only helps in the tournament. You know you can play well because you accomplished a lot just to make the team."

Honorable mention: Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma State
Finished six strokes back of Wiedergruen at the Ping Preview en route to a fourth-place finish, but followed it up with an impressive victory at Olympia Fields and a third top-four finish at Isleworth. You get impression, too, that the best is still to come.

WOMEN
Amanda Blumenherst, Duke
It says a great deal about the talent of the 21-year-old junior when her accomplishments have gone from being considered extraordinary to expected. With victories at the Mason Rudolph Women's Championship and the Lady Tar Heel Invitational this fall, Blumenherst now has nine college titles to her credit, only three back of Mary Anne Widman for Duke's all-time mark. With a second-place finish at the Margaret Branch NCAA Preview and a T-5 at the Stanford Intercollegiate, she now has 20 top-five finishes in 25 career starts and still hasn't ended a tournament worse than tied for 10th.

That's not to say that the rest of the college golf world has conceded Blumenherst a third-straight NCAA player of the year award. Arkansas senior Stacy Lewis, the defending NCAA individual champ, also had two wins this fall, and beat Blumenherst in their only "head-to-head" match-up at Stanford. Separating the two is like trying to decide which flavor of ice cream you like better, chocolate or vanilla. Both taste great ... it all depends what you're craving at the time.

We give the nod for top-player honors through the fall to Blumenherst because her stroke average is a bit lower (69.58 to 70.92) and her competition was a bit higher (Duke's strength of schedule ranks third in the country; Arkansas' ranks 30th). It wouldn't surprise us, though, if the two were still battling all the way to the final round at the University of New Mexico's Championship Course come May and the NCAA Championship.

Honorable mention: Stacy Lewis, Arkansas
Except for two 76s there's not much to complain about from the senior this fall. (P.S.--Every other round was 72 or better.)

Golf World Mid-season All-American team
MEN
Jonas Blixt, Florida State, Sr.
    71.58 avg. in four starts; one co-win (Inverness), three top-5s; 4-0 at Match Play
Ryan Brehm, Michigan State, Sr.
    71.25 avg. in five starts; three wins (Inverness, ND, Big Ten/Pac-10), four top-4s
Jonas Enander Hedin, Charlotte, Sr.
    69.92 avg. in four starts; three top-6 finishes; worst finish a T-16
Harris English, Georgia, Fr.
    70.78 avg. in three starts; two wins (Isleworth-UCF, Brickyard Collegiate)
Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma State, Fr.
    69.89 avg. in three starts; one win (Fighting Illini/Olympia Fields) and two fourths
Chesson Hadley, Georgia Tech, Soph.
    69.78 avg. in three starts; one win (Carpet Capital), three top-6s
Clayton Rask, Minnesota, Sr.
    71.33 avg. in five starts; two co-wins (Windon, Prestige), 4 top-6s; 3-0 at Match Play
Joel Sjoholm, Georgia State, Sr.
    71.67 avg. in four starts; one win (Club Glove), four top-10s
Ryan Spears, Wichita State, Sr.
    70.8 avg. in five starts; three wins (Falcon, Bill Hill, Sycuan), five top-10s
Michael Thompson, Alabama, Sr.
    68.67 avg. in three starts; two runner-up finishes, three top-3s
Mike Van Sickle, Marquette, Jr.
    69.67 avg. in five starts; two wins (Windon, Big East/MAC), four top-10s
Stefan Wiedergruen, Charlotte, Jr.
    69.83 avg. in four starts; two wins (Ping/Golfweek, Pacific), one runner-up

WOMEN
Amanda Blumenherst, Duke, Jr.
    69.58 avg. in four starts; two wins (Mason Rudolph, Lady Tar Heel), four top-5s
Stacy Lewis, Arkansas, Sr.
    70.92 avg. in four starts; two wins (Stanford, UA/Ann Rhodes), four top-3s
Sandra Gal, Florida, Sr.
    72.0 avg. in three starts; one win (Mercedes-Benz), worst finish: T-15
Tiffany Joh, UCLA, Jr.
    71.58 avg. in four starts; one co-win (Kent Youel), three top-6s, worst finish: T-13
Laura Kueny, Michigan State, Soph.
    72.33 avg. in four starts; one win (Mary Fossum), two seconds
Pernilla Lindberg, Oklahoma State, Jr.
    71.67 avg. in four starts; three top-8s, worst finish: T-21
Belen Mozo, USC, Soph.
    72.17 avg. in four starts; one win (Edean Ihlanfeldt), three top-10s, worst finish: T-11
Azahara Munoz, Arizona State, Jr.
    71.67 avg. in four starts; three top-6 finishes, worst finish: T-12
Anna Nordqvist, Arizona State, Soph.
    71.25 avg. in four starts; three top-4s, worst finish: T-8
So-Hyun Park, Notre Dame, Fr.
    72.53 avg. in five starts; one win (Napa River Grill), two seconds
Maria Jose Uribe, UCLA, Fr.
    72.25 avg. in four starts; one win (Kent Youel), three top-10s, worst finish: T-16
Alison Walshe, Arizona, Sr.
    71.33 avg. in five starts; one win (Edean Ihlanfeldt), three top-3s, worst finish: T-10

It wasn't long ago that freshmen were counted on pretty much for one thing--carrying the bags for the upperclassmen while on the road.

These days, though, rookies are having a far greater impact on the course (See: Arizona State's Louise Stahle, 2005; Duke's Amanda Blumenherst, 2006; USC's Jamie Lovemark, 2007). With that, here's a review of those who were able to hit the ground running during their first semester.

FRESHMAN OF THE (MID)YEAR
MEN
Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma State
After an exhaustive push last summer to become the youngest member of the 2007 U.S. Walker Cup team, then an emotional two days at Royal County Down in September that culminated in a individual 3-1 record and an overall American win, few would have blamed the soon-to-be 19-year-old if he coasted through his first fall as a Cowboy. Instead, the Murrieta, Calif., native showed his passion for the game with fourth-place finishes in his first and last starts and a victory in between at the Fighting Illini/Olympia Fields Invitational, where his second-round 63 sent a message that the Murrieta, Calif., native wasn't taking his first year in college lightly.

"He's obviously a hard-working kid who gets up every day with the attitude that I can do better," Oklahoma State men's coach Mike McGraw said. "He's always moving forward. He doesn't live in the past at all."

Fowler brings with him a few other encouraging traits. He prefers to practice by playing on the course rather than beating balls on the range, something that can help fine-tune his creativity and shot-making. Moreover, he carries himself with just the right amount of confidence to be dangerous, in the best sense of the word. "He plays aggressively," McGraw noted. "I think that rubs off on the team a little bit. I hope it does. Everybody kind of takes the foot off the break, hopefully."

Honorable mention: Harris English, Georgia
Made quite an impression with two wins (Brickyard Collegiate, Isleworth-UCF Invitational) in his first three starts. Only blemish is T-56 finish in his college debut at the Carpet Capital Collegiate.

WOMEN
So-Hyun Park, Notre Dame
To expect anyone to have a win, two runner-up finishes and no worse than a T-7 performance in their first five tournaments would be setting the bar pretty high. Nevertheless, Fighting Irish coach Susan Holt contends she really wasn't surprised at Park's impressive debut. Having attended the David Leadbetter Academy in Bradenton, Fla., as a high schooler allowed for the transition to college life--i.e. being away from home, juggling academics and athletics, etc.--to come a bit easier for the South Korean native. "I don't think she had as much adjusting to do as some freshman," said Holt.

So it was that Park could give her game more attention than might otherwise have been the case. Suffice it to say, her strong work ethic has rubbed off on her teammates, explaining in part Notre Dame's collective competitiveness this fall (three team wins, No. 20 ranking).

"She's committed to getting better, and I just thing that motivated the rest of the team," Holt says. "The upperclassmen are like, 'We love our freshmen.' They really embraced that."

Honorable mention: Maria Jose Uribe, UCLA
Hasn't disappointed since winning the U.S. Women's Amateur title in August, sharing medalist honors at the Kent Youel Invitational while sporting a 72.25 stroke average.

Golf World Mid-season All-Freshmen team
MEN
Johan Carlsson, San Diego State
    71.73 avg. in four starts; two top-fives and no finish worse than T-12   
Harris English, Georgia
    70.78 avg. in three starts; two wins (Isleworth-UCF, Brickyard Collegiate)
Rhys Enoch, East Tennessee State
    71.08 avg. in four starts; three top-seven finishes
Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma State
    69.89 avg. in three starts; one win (Fighting Illini/Olympia Fields) and two fourths
Kevin O’Connell, North Carolina
    70.08 avg. in four starts; three top-10s and no finish worse than T-15
Andrew Putnam, Pepperdine
    71.17 avg. in two starts; second at Club Glove, T-3 at Turtle Bay

WOMEN
Cydney Clanton, Auburn
    72.07 avg. in five starts; three top-fives including playoff loss at Mercedes-Benz
Calle Nielson, Virginia
    73.22 avg. in three starts; two top-10 finishes and no finish worse than T-20
So-Hyun Park, Notre Dame
    72.53 avg. in five starts; one win (Napa River Grill), two seconds
Maria Jose Uribe, UCLA
    72.25 avg. in four starts; one win (Kent Youel), three top-10s, worst finish: T-16
Jessica Yadloczky, Florida
    73.42 avg. in four starts; two top-10 finishes and no finish worse than T-18
Glory Yang, UCLA
    72.92 avg. in four starts; three top-13 finishes and no finish worse than 19th

FINAL MID-SEASON AWARD:
Player of the (Mid)Year and the Mid-Season All-American teams

Yes, they don't hand out the NCAA Championship trophy in December. These coaches, however, have reason to smile after very successful fall campaigns.

COACH OF THE (MID)YEAR
MEN
Jamie Green, Charlotte
If you're looking for a "rah-rah" style of coach, Green, in his fifth year at Charlotte, isn't your guy. The way the man whose 49er teams have won 15 tournaments the past 3¿ seasons--including four in five starts this fall--has gained his players' attention is by letting them identify what works best for them individually with regard to improving their games and then allowing them the freedom to follow their own path.

"My brother played college golf, and he said they had a team meeting the night before each tournament where the coach told them how everyone was going to play each hole," noted senior Andrew DiBitetto earlier this fall, one of four Charlotte players with a 71.67 or better stroke average so far in 2007-08. "Well, there is not so much of that [here], and I think it's better that way. That means your coach has faith and confidence in you. That bubbles down and you have confidence in yourself as well as your teammates, and your teammates have confidence in you."

Green has developed an environment where the motivation comes from the bottom up. After the 49ers finished tied for third at last June's NCAA Championship, they could have been satisfied with posting the best showing in school history. Instead, they remained hungry and proved this fall that their performance at The Homestead wasn't a fluke, finishing ranked No. 2 after claiming the top-spot for a brief time.

"They know what they're capable of accomplishing," Green says of his players, none of whom was touted as a can't-miss recruit upon arriving at Charlotte but all of whom, Green knew, had the skills to succeed. All the coach had to do was let the players find that out for themselves. 

Honorable mention: Chris Haack, Georgia
Despite losing two first-team All-Americans to graduation, the Bulldogs won twice in four starts and ended the fall ranked No. 1 in the Golf World/Nike Golf coaches' poll.

WOMEN
Nancy McDaniel, California
With the Golden Bears posting just two top-10 finishes in 11 starts and a 19th-place showing at the West Regional that ended five straight years of advancing to the NCAA Championship, the 2006-07 season was certainly one for them to forget. So that's just what McDaniel insisted her team do. During their annual preseason retreat this September at the Lair of the Golden Bear, 150 miles west of campus in California’s Sierra Mountains, the coach, in her 13th year at Cal, put her foot down and said there would be no looking back, particular for her four returning starters.

"I was very clear with where we were going. They were a brand new team and they could do whatever they wanted with it," McDaniel said. "They took hold of that and really ran with it."

Indeed, the Bears won their first tournament of the fall, the Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic, and claimed top-five performances in their remaining three events, jumping from unranked in the preseason to No. 11 entering the winter break. Freshman Pia Halbig, sophomore Roseanne Niven and junior Allison Goodman each have sub-75 stroke averages while junior Shannon Yocum recorded an individual victory and sophomore Sofia Janer has two top-10s.

Credit McDaniel for appreciating where she fell short the previous year. She admits that the atmosphere was too "business-like," so she has focused on trying to develop a balance of camaraderie with competitiveness. To wit: The team developed a "birdie board" where they post stickers whenever they make birdies during a tournament. Silly? Yes ⿿ but also fun and a way for the players to stay loose while striving for success.

McDaniel, meanwhile, made it a goal for herself and associate head coach Anne Walker to get to know their players better away from the golf course. "Last year there wasn't the connection between player and coach," McDaniel said. "I lost touch. ⿿ In order to be a great coach you have to work with them as a whole person. That's what our philosophy is, so why [was] I not doing this? So every day they come to practice [this fall] they were greeted with, 'How are you doing? What's going on? How was your weekend?' Just all the little things that can slide through the cracks and then it becomes just business instead of when you’re working with a team. It's all about relationships."

Honorable mention: Jill Briles-Hinton, Florida
The Gators ranked 15th in the preseason, but jumped to No. 5 by the end of the fall with a victory and five top-five performances.

NEXT MID-SEASON AWARD:
Freshman of the (Mid)Year and the All Freshman Squad

There are actually many uncertainties that could have a large impact on how the rest of the 2007-08 season plays out. Will UCLA, Alabama, Georgia, Charlotte or any other team for that matter separate themselves on the men's side? Will anyone give Duke's Amanda Blumenherst and Arkansas' Stacy Lewis a run at women's player of the year? What exactly constitutes "a tournament" in men's golf any more?

At any rate, here are a couple more to ponder.

BIGGEST QUESTION MARK FOR THE SPRING: PLAYER
MEN
Billy Horschel, Florida
About the only thing that matches the junior's cockiness is his talent--see his 70.5 stroke average this fall. That said, will the soon-to-be 21-year-old from Grant, Fla., be able to stay focused enough to make a run at first-team All-American honors for a third straight year?

Rumors that Horschel might leave school after this season to turn pro are likely to follow him (not to mention NCAA champion Jamie Lovemark of USC) throughout the spring. Even merely contemplating such a decision could become a distraction; just ask Oklahoma State coach Mike McGraw how productive Pablo Martin and Jonathan Moore were a year ago.

Horschel can become just the second UF golfer to win SEC player of the year honors twice with a solid spring (joining Camilo Villegas). Moreover, Florida hasn't won the conference title since 2003, the longest dry-spell under coach Buddy Alexander. Says here that Horschel will be up to the challenge this spring, but only time will tell for certain.

Honorable mention: Philip Francis, UCLA
Can the 2006 U.S. Junior champ keep up with Oklahoma State's Rickie Fowler and Georgia's Harris English in their quest to be the top freshman in 2007-08?

WOMEN
Jennifer Osborn, Arizona State
The knock on the Sun Devils last season was that they didn't have a reliable No. 5 player to give Nos. 1 through 4 some room for error (see the NCAA Championship, when the Sun Devils finished in 13th place). This fall, however, it was the junior from Huntington Beach, Calif., a first-team All-American with seven top-10 finishes in 2006-07, who seemed inconsistent. In the first three tournaments of the fall, she finished no better than T-20. Finally at the Stanford Invitational, the final event of the fall, she seemed to return to form with a runner-up showing.

So which player can coach Melissa Luellen expect come the spring? Again, we'll lean on the side that says Osborn writes off the fall (she did have a 72.75 final-round stroke average) and becomes the steady player we've come to expect for the second-ranked team in the country. To do that, however, she's got to improve on her 57.6 percent driving accuracy.

Honorable mention: Caroline Westrup, Florida State
A first-team All-American last season but who has yet to post a top-10 finish. Is the Swede's sophomore slump merely coming a year later than one would expect?

BIGGEST QUESTION MARK FOR THE SPRING: TEAM
MEN
Clemson
The Tigers, coming off a disappointing 2006-07 season in which they went winless, finished in the top five only four times in 11 starts and failed to qualify for the NCAA Championship for only the second time in 25 years, started the 2007-08 campaign equally shaky (last among the four U.S. teams at the Topy Cup; 13th at the Carpet Capital) before salvaging the fall with runner-up showings at the Brickyard Collegiate and Isleworth-UCF Invitational. So which team can coach Larry Penley expect to see this spring?

Sophomore All-American candidate Kyle Stanley, a 2007 U.S. Walker Cup team member, will have gotten some much needed rest when the season resumes in Puerto Rico in February. Still, he needs help from a supporting cast (junior David May and sophomores Luke Hopkins and Sam Saunders) that has been inconsistent. All have stroke averages of 74.17 or better, yet the Tigers have an average drop score of 77.86, second highest among schools ranked in the top 20. 

Honorable mention: Arizona
Could the .500 rule keep the Wildcats from a 22nd straight appearance in the NCAA Championship? If the postseason started today, the answer is yes.

WOMEN
Florida
What happens when your anchor suddenly floats away? That's what the Gators will have to find out this spring when they play without senior All-American Sandra Gal, who competed in the LPGA Tour Qualifying School as an amateur this past weekend, finished T-14 to earn a card and decided to turn pro. Prior to all this, there was plenty of optimism in Gainesville when the Gators, who started the 2007-08 season ranked 15th, impressed with a victory at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and four other top-five finishes to close the fall with a No. 5 ranking.

"Sandra is the type of player that can help you to win championships," Florida women's coach Jill Briles-Hinton said of her former star, who was medalist at the Mercedes event, one of three top-15 finishes she posted in the fall. "The coaches are here to teach kids that have a burning desire to be the best they can be, and Sandra is that type of player. She gave me everything she had and always did everything she needed to do to be prepared on the golf course."

The good news for Gators fans is while losing Gal, who ranked No. 9 in Golf World's preseason players to watch list, the team still has two seniors--Whitney Myers (73.25 average, three top-20s) and Tiffany Chudy--with lots of playing experience that the team can rely on. Freshman Jessica Yadloczky (73.42, two top-10) also seemed to make a easy transition to the college game, giving Briles-Hinton hope. Additionally, when Gal was out of the line-up at the UK Wildcat Invitational in October, four players finished in the top 11 as the team recorded a second-place showing. That said, replacing a player who had a 72.5 stroke average the last year and a half is a tall task, indeed.

Honorable mention: Pepperdine
From Tamie Durdin to Lindsay Wright and Katherine Hull to Eileen Vargas and Carolina Llano to Misun Cho, the Waves always have had go-to players coach Laurie Gibbs knew she could count on. Can freshman Taylore Karle fill the role?

NEXT MID-SEASON AWARD:
Coach of the (half) year

So who should you keep your eye on this coming spring? If you'll pardon the pun, here is a look at some of the real diamonds in the rough in college golf.

BEST PLAYER YOU'VE (MAYBE) NEVER HEARD OF
MEN
Mike Van Sickle, Marquette
The 20-year-old junior wasn't a blue-chip recruit coming out of Wexford, Pa., but the late bloomer is giving golf journalists something to write by becoming the Golden Eagles' all-time best player. After winning three tournaments last year to earn honorable mention All-American honors and become Marquette's first individual qualifier for the NCAA postseason, Van Sickle posted two more wins this fall, four top-10 finishes and a 69.67 stroke average (while also hampered slightly by a fracture in one his fingers).

"The most impressive thing to me is he didn't really play his best golf this fall and he still won a few events," said Marquette men's coach Tim Grogan. "He's learned he doesn't have to play perfect golf and he can still contend."

Van Sickle holds the school's career low average (72.17) and has broken par in 45 of his 83 career rounds. (This summer he shot a 60 in the Tri-State PGA Amateur, which he won along with the Pennsylvania state Open.) Among his impressive stats this fall is his six eagles and 87 birdies, both of which are the most among all college players. Additionally, he has a final-round scoring average of 68.83, a mark he helped set when he made six birdies in his final eight holes at the Windon Memorial Classic in October to claim a share of the individual title. "He's always been able to make birdies," Grogan said. "What he's done since the start of last spring really is he's eliminated the easy bogeys."

Honorable mention: Ryan Spears, Wichita State
The senior has yet to finish outside the top 10 this season, winning three tournaments and amassing a 70.8 average.

WOMEN
Azahara Munoz, Arizona State
With teammates Anna Nordqvist and Jennifer Osborn grabbing many of the headlines for ASU the past two seasons as they earned first-team All-American honors, the play from the 20-year-old junior had been less heralded but no less important. The consistency from the second-team All-American was particularly evident this fall when the Spaniard, who tied for third at the Women's World Amateur Team Championship in 2006, had three top-six showings and no finish worse than a T-12, posting a 71.67 stroke average in the process.

During the fall Munoz hit an amazing 88.5 percent of fairways and 78.2 percent of greens in regulation. And when she did miss a green, she got up and down for par more than two thirds of the time.

Honorable mention: Katie Kempter, Denver
Earned medalist honors at the Topy Cup versus a limited field, only to back it up with a victory at the Las Vegas Collegiate to close the fall.

BEST PLAYER YOU'LL HEAR OF BY SEASON’S END
MEN
Joel Sjoholm, Georgia State
Knowing that he was going to be needed to anchor the Panthers' squad in 2007-08, the senior from Sweden hasn't disappointed with four top-10 finishes, including his first college title at the Club Glove Intercollegiate. "We talked about that a good bit when he returned, how he was ready for the challenge to lead the guys every day," Georgia State men's coach Matt Clark said. "And now that he's got that monkey off his back, winning a tournament, I think that's going to change his mentality a little bit."

Sjoholm's success this fall stems, at least in part, from finding a balance between playing aggressive and playing smart. Says Clark: "Joel did a great job of just controlling his attitude on the golf course. In the past he's always let a hole or two bother him and keep from having a chance to win or get close to the lead. He'd let his temper get to him because he thought he could hit a shot, he wouldn't pull it off and he'd get so mad it would affect him for a few holes. Then he'd look back at the leader board and saw, 'Man, I almost won.' This year it's like he's a little more calm. He's just out there playing golf. It's fun to watch."

A third-team All-American a year ago who has 23 top-20 finishes in 39 career starts, Sjoholm has impressed many who follow college golf not only with his solid short game but his personable demeanor. A few coaches, including Clark, even have joked if they were ever to become agents Sjoholm is among the players they'd want as clients, what with his flamboyant dress and laid-back smile. "There are a lot of great players out there but a lot of them unfortunately might not have the flair and style to go to that next level," Clark says. "I think Joel has a little of all that. If he gets out there I think the TV cameras will like him and the reporters will too."

Honorable mention: Kevin Chappell, UCLA
Set to make a mark in his senior season, having a T-2 and T-4 finish in two stroke-play tournaments and a 4-0 mark to help the Bruins win the Callaway Match Play Championship.

WOMEN
Jodi Ewart, New Mexico
The native of Yorkshire, England shared the Mountain West Conference's player of the year award as a freshman last spring and is on the short list to make the Great Britain & Ireland Curtis Cup team next year. A busy summer of golf back home--where she won the English stroke-play championship--perhaps explains the somewhat pedestrian start to her sophomore season (four top-20s finishes but no top-10s), but with the NCAA Championship being held next May at UNM's home course, don’t be surprised to see Ewart in contention.

Honorable mention: Marci Turner, Tennessee
A two-time All-American who is as tough a competitor as she is a talented golfer.

NEXT MID-SEASON AWARD:
Biggest questions marks for the spring