College <strong>Golf</strong>Corey Nagy’s 49ers Ultimate LegacyBy: Kenya Sloan, <strong>Charlotte</strong> Sports InformationIn 2006, the <strong>Charlotte</strong> 49ers men’sgolf team signed one recruit to their Atlantic10 Conference Championshipteam that had placed a program-best22nd at the <strong>NC</strong>AA National Championships.That lone recruit’s name wasCorey Nagy. And what an impact hewould have on a program just start<strong>in</strong>g tomake a name for itself.Corey attended Vance High School<strong>in</strong> <strong>Charlotte</strong>, North Carol<strong>in</strong>a, just a coupleof miles from the U<strong>NC</strong> <strong>Charlotte</strong>campus. At Vance he earned four-timeall-state selections, three-time conference(MECA-8 conference) player of the year,four straight top four f<strong>in</strong>ishes at the NorthCarol<strong>in</strong>a 4A State Championships, twicequalify<strong>in</strong>g for the US Junior Amateurs,and plac<strong>in</strong>g fourth <strong>in</strong> the 156-player fieldat the Rancho Santa Fe <strong>Golf</strong> <strong>Club</strong>.Corey also posted four top 10 f<strong>in</strong>ishes,<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g two top five spots <strong>in</strong> theAmerican Junior <strong>Golf</strong> Association tournaments.He f<strong>in</strong>ished his senior yearranked as the 14th best golfer <strong>in</strong> the entire2006 high school class. But, even withhis impressive resume, Corey foundearn<strong>in</strong>g a 49ers golf spot would be tough.In his first semester on campus, Coreycould not break the 49ers veteran five-manrotation and competed as an <strong>in</strong>dividual.But Corey did not settle for just compet<strong>in</strong>g."When I arrived the golf team had alreadyexperienced some success and alreadyhad their top-5 players set. I did not like thatat all! I was ex-Corey Nagy's solid gamehas carried U<strong>NC</strong>C to4-straight Atlantic-10Championships.tremely motivatedby the ideathat I was notone of those 5. Iknew I had acouple th<strong>in</strong>gs tochange <strong>in</strong> mygolf sw<strong>in</strong>g and<strong>in</strong> my mentalapproach to thegame. I was reallyconfident <strong>in</strong>my abilities andhad goals ofcrack<strong>in</strong>g that top5 that spr<strong>in</strong>g ofmy freshmanyear. That yeargave me the confidenceto play well every year after that."In February of his freshman year,Corey’s hard work eventually paid off.He moved <strong>in</strong>to the 49ers regular fivemanl<strong>in</strong>eup and set a course for the bestcollegiate career ever by a <strong>Charlotte</strong>49ers golfer.“Corey isn’t go<strong>in</strong>g to settle for secondplace. He is go<strong>in</strong>g to do whatever is necessaryto be the best,” said 49ers headcoach Adam Pry, the 2009 A-10 Coachof the Year. “He doesn’t make excuses;he just does whatever it takes.”His phenomenal freshman season sawhim named Atlantic 10 ConferenceRookie of the Year, an all-Atlantic 10Conference performer, a PING/GCAAhonorable mention all-America and aPING/GCAA Freshman all-America. Atthe 2007 <strong>NC</strong>AA Championship, Nagyled the 49ers through the first threerounds and f<strong>in</strong>ished 35th <strong>in</strong>dividually asthe 49ers placed 3rd as a team – the best<strong>NC</strong>AA f<strong>in</strong>ish ever for the 49ers golf programand match<strong>in</strong>g the best <strong>NC</strong>AA f<strong>in</strong>ishever by any 49ers sports program.Despite his outstand<strong>in</strong>g freshmanseason, Nagy was frustrated, not somuch his ball-strik<strong>in</strong>g, but the way heapproach each round mentally.That desire to improve led Nagy toDr. Louis Csoka, the man beh<strong>in</strong>d ApexPerformance <strong>in</strong> <strong>Charlotte</strong>, and the searchfor the ‘zone’ had started.“The zone is noth<strong>in</strong>g but a very relaxedstate of m<strong>in</strong>d. You can tra<strong>in</strong> peopleto approach that. Not get <strong>in</strong> it but approachit,” Dr. Csoka said. “And Coreyis close.”"I would describe myself as verypositive. I am always <strong>in</strong> a good moodand noth<strong>in</strong>g usually gets me down. I tryto look at the big picture. I try to havefun with everyth<strong>in</strong>g that I do. I am verycompetitive. I am extroverted and loveto laugh. I eat enough to feed an army. Ilive by the idea that good th<strong>in</strong>gs happento good people and I always try to do theright th<strong>in</strong>g. I really enjoy help<strong>in</strong>g otherpeople, and enjoy brighten<strong>in</strong>g someoneelse’s day.”As a sophomore, Nagy took anotherstep, post<strong>in</strong>g a career-best 72.14 strokeaverage to earn bothGCAA and <strong>Golf</strong>Week all-Americahonors. He placedsecond at the Atlantic10 Championshipand helped the 49ersto a 7th-place f<strong>in</strong>ishat the <strong>NC</strong>AA Championships– their secondstraight <strong>NC</strong>AA top 10 f<strong>in</strong>ish.Corey Nagy -three time <strong>NC</strong>AAAll-American atU<strong>NC</strong> <strong>Charlotte</strong>.As a junior, Nagy grabbed top honorsat the Atlantic 10 Championship, lead<strong>in</strong>gthe 49ers to their fourth straight leaguetitle with medalist honors. Aga<strong>in</strong>, all-America honors followed and though<strong>Charlotte</strong> was unable to advance out ofthe <strong>NC</strong>AA Regionals, Nagy made histhird trip to the <strong>NC</strong>AA Championship asan <strong>in</strong>dividual.In the 2009-10 season, Corey haskeyed a program’s success that <strong>in</strong>cludesfour straight A-10 championships andfive straight <strong>NC</strong>AA Tournament berths.With Nagy at the top of the l<strong>in</strong>eup, <strong>Charlotte</strong>was picked <strong>in</strong> the preseason polls toclaim a fifth straight A-10 title, an accomplishmentthey will shoot at April 30-May 2 at Howey-<strong>in</strong>-the-Hills, Florida.Already, Corey, who has participatedat three all-America Classics, has beennamed to the 2010 Ben Hogan Awardwatch list. This award, for all divisions,is considered the most prestigious <strong>in</strong>dividualaward <strong>in</strong> men’s collegiate golfthat is presented to the top men’s <strong>NC</strong>AAcollege golfer annually."It feels motivat<strong>in</strong>g, but I will not doany more or less to try to w<strong>in</strong> the BenHogan award. I will cont<strong>in</strong>ue to get betterand work hard on every part of mygame and have a blast with every roundI play, and if that is enough to w<strong>in</strong> thatwould be like ic<strong>in</strong>g on the cake. "Corey is also considered, by many,to be the most accomplished golfer <strong>in</strong>49er history.“He is def<strong>in</strong>itely among the verybest I have been around,” Pry added. “Heis certa<strong>in</strong>ly on track to have the best fouryearcareer of anyone who has gonethrough the program but he still has acouple of months left to leave his 49ersultimate legacy.”28 - CAROLINA GOLF JOURNAL - SPRING 2010______________________________________________________________________________
College <strong>Golf</strong>SOUTHERN CONFERE<strong>NC</strong>E GOLFERS SCORE FROM THE HEARTWhen the spr<strong>in</strong>g seasonstarted for theSouthern Conferencegolf teams, their ma<strong>in</strong>goals were to w<strong>in</strong> matches andadvance to the <strong>NC</strong>AA Tournament.But, the players at all 12SoCon schools, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Elon,Appalachian State, Davidson,Wofford and Furman, will beaim<strong>in</strong>g to go low for an additioncause this year.Elon University's Jayson Judy beh<strong>in</strong>d humanitarian Efforts ofSouthern Conference golfers.Nature dealt a devastat<strong>in</strong>g blow on the Caribbean islandnation of Haiti <strong>in</strong> mid-January when a 7.0 magnitudeearthquake leveled a major portion of the capital city ofPort-au-Pr<strong>in</strong>ce. More than 200,000 people lost theirlives, and thousands of families lost all of their homesand belong<strong>in</strong>gs.In a heart-felt fundrais<strong>in</strong>g effort by the Elon Universitymen’s golf team and spearheaded by an MBA student,“Eagles for Haiti” pledge drive was started that askssponsors to donate money toward recovery efforts forevery eagle scored this season by male golfers <strong>in</strong> theSouthern Conference.Organized by MBA candidate and current Elon Universitygolfer Jayson Judy, all proceeds will benefit theAmerican Red Cross recovery effort <strong>in</strong> Haiti. Judy, withthe cooperation of the other conference school are ask<strong>in</strong>gfor a pledge of $1 for every eagle scored <strong>in</strong> completionthis spr<strong>in</strong>g golf season.The Southern Conference has12 full members and averages between80 and 100 eagles eachyear, Judy said.“It’s an added benefit to a playerknow<strong>in</strong>g that when he makes anJayson JudyBY: BRUCE SYDNEYeagle, it’s not just help<strong>in</strong>g his team, he’s send<strong>in</strong>g moneyto Haiti,” said Judy, a 2008 alum who f<strong>in</strong>ishes his f<strong>in</strong>alseason of <strong>NC</strong>AA eligibility this spr<strong>in</strong>g. “I wanted to get<strong>in</strong>volved with Haiti and get a relief effort go<strong>in</strong>g. This wasthe most logical way.”Judy, a Gibsonville, N.C., native who graduated witha bachelor’s degree <strong>in</strong> bus<strong>in</strong>ess, completes his MBA program<strong>in</strong> May. “This should mushroom <strong>in</strong>to a pretty bigamount,” he said. “My goal, is that Elon and my SoConcompetitors raise quite a bit of money to show we are <strong>in</strong>deedth<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g about our golf games, but also about ourfellow man.”From a look at the Southern Conference scor<strong>in</strong>gnumbers this spr<strong>in</strong>g, Judy and his buddies shouldn’t haveany trouble reach<strong>in</strong>g their goal. Mak<strong>in</strong>g eagles that willfly much needed relief funds to Haiti through the AmericanRed Cross.For more <strong>in</strong>formation on Eagles for Haiti, or to<strong>in</strong>quire about mak<strong>in</strong>g a pledge, visit www.eaglesforhaiti.orgor email helpnow@eaglesforhaiti.org.The HiddenJewel of theCarol<strong>in</strong>asA Challeng<strong>in</strong>gTom JacksonDesignFeatures dramatic elevationchanges - A mounta<strong>in</strong> golf<strong>in</strong>gexperience atUnion County’s premiersemi-private golf course--- just 40-m<strong>in</strong>utes fromdowntown <strong>Charlotte</strong>CART & GREEN FEE RATES:Mon. - Thurs.<strong>Play</strong> All Day $30After 12:00 noon $27After 3:00 p.m. $22Friday $33After 12:00 noon $29After 3:00 p.m. $22Seniors (55 & up) Mon. – Fri. $27Weekends & Holidays $44After 12:00 noon $34After 3:00 p.m. $25704-385-9000www.playeaglechase.comTee Times Taken 5 Days In AdvanceNon-metal spikes and collared shirts required_____________________________________________________________________________CAROLINA GOLF JOURNAL - SPRING 2010 – 29
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