Dec. 12, 2007

Golf World has come out with its mid-year report as collegiate golf concluded its fall season and the Charlotte 49ers, unbeaten in stroke play events during the fall, grabbed many of the honors.

Junior Stefan Wiedergruen (Waiblingen, Germany) was named the Player of the (Mid)Year while he and senior Jonas Enander Hedin (Taby, Sweden) were named to the 12-member mid-season all-America Team. Head coach Jamie Green was named the Coach of the (Mid)Year.

Charlotte, which began the year ranked 10th in GolfWorld's Preseason Coaches' Poll, won all four stroke-play events in the fall, including the PING/Golfweek Preview and The Prestige, co-hosted by defending NCAA National Champion Stanford. Charlotte emerged as the consensus #1-ranked team in the country, Oct. 17, by reaching the top spot in the GolfWorld, Golfstat and Golfweek ranking systems. Charlotte completed the fall season ranked second in the GolfWorld Coaches' Poll and third in the Golfweek and Golfstat rankings.

In being named Player of the (Mid)Year, Wiedergruen took individual medalist honors at the PING/Golfweek Preview and The Pacific Invitational and placed second at the Scenic City Invitational. In four events in the fall, Wiedergruen posted a 69.8 stroke average, with six of 12 rounds in the 60's. He was named the A-10 Player of the Week, twice.

Wiedergruen was joined on the mid-season all-America team by Enander Hedin, who posted a 69.9 stroke average, with three top six individual finishes and four top 15 finishes. He placed second to Wiedergruen at the PING/Golfweek Preview, fourth at The Prestige and sixth at the Scenic City Invitational. He was 15th at the Pacific Invitational.

Green was named the Coach of the (Mid) Year on the strength of the 49ers' unbeaten fall season. The 49ers placed third at the 2007 NCAA National Championships and returned four of the five players from that NCAA lineup. Green has built an environment of success for the 49ers program that currently has four players shooting under par. While Wiedergruen and Enander Hedin received the mid-year honors, sophomore Corey Nagy (Charlotte, N.C.) and senior Andrew DiBitetto (Rochester, N.Y.) became the program's first GCAA all-Americas, last year. Nagy, one of five players selected to the NCAA Freshman all-America team, last year, owns a 70.7 stroke average and took individual medalist honors at the Scenic City Invitational and placed third at The Prestige. DiBitetto, an honorable mention all-America last year who placed ninth at the 2007 NCAA Championships, has a 71.7 stroke average and three top 20 finishes. Fellow senior Trevor Murphy (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) has a 73.2 stroke average and one top 10 finish. In addition, each player owns a GPA of 3.0 or higher.


Golf World also noted that Wiedergruen was the Biggest Surprise among individuals, given that he was not in the 49ers five-man NCAA lineup a year ago. The publication also tabbed the 49ers as the Biggest Surprise among the nation's teams, citing the program's rise from Cinderella, last year to national power, this year:

"More than a few people viewed the 49ers' No. 10 ranking in the Golf World/Nike Golf preseason poll as one last tip of the cap to a team finishing a school-best third at the NCAA Championship in 2007," it said. "As for the 49ers themselves, however, they considered it a bit insulting, considering that six of the seven returning players had stroke averages of 73.6 or lower a year ago. So it was that Charlotte went from last season's Cinderella story to this year's national power after winning its first three tournaments, including the Ping/Golfweek Preview at Purdue's Kampen Course, site of next spring's NCAA Championship, to claim its first No. 1 ranking in school history. As if anyone needed more proof, Charlotte closed the fall with a fourth tournament title at Pacific Invitational, the 15th victory for the 49ers since the fall 2004."