Golf head coach Adam Crawford and his athletes proved effective in their first half of the season. Junior James Mishoe highlighted many tournaments, finishing in the top five in four tournaments and leading his team to two tournament victories.

The Quakers are ranked sixth in the most recent Division III Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll and eighth in the Nov. 6 Golfstat.com Top 25.

The team takes a minor winter break and starts back up on March 4, where they anticipate competing in the Callaway Gardens Invitational at Callaway Gardens-Mountain & Lake.

Q: Understanding you have prior coaching experience under your belt, how was the experience of coaching at Guilford for your first time?

A: “It’s been really good. The guys have been very receptive and are self-motivated. You’re working with everyone to be successful, which helps the team achieve the lofty goals we set each year. I’ve been very fortunate because they show up, work hard and we are on the same page each tournament we play in.”

Q: How much influence do you believe junior James Mishoe had on how the team performed at tournaments this fall season?

A: “He has a tremendous influence. You know what you’re going to get from him every tournament and he’s very talented. He has carried over outstanding play from the previous season into this year, where so far eight of his twelve rounds have been sub-par. He has high expectations and I believe nobody is harder on himself than he is. His work ethic is there, and his teammates notice that.”

Q: What are some aspects of play, positive or negative, that you see from your golfers?

A: “A lot of the positives are the way we are consistent in our events. We start and finish the season with wins and some excellent finishes in between. Anytime Zach (Evens), who is studying aboard this fall and was an All-American last year, is not on the team, you wonder how the team will compete without him. I knew coming into this season we have a lot of depth and those athletes who did not play as much last year got the opportunity to do so. That is an excellent thing, which helped consistency. As for negatives, we want to minimize our mistakes and carelessness in the spring. We weren’t very sharp this fall season, but as you can tell, we were able to remain strong.”

Q: You all have traveled up and down the eastern part of the United States this fall season and have more upcoming in the spring season. What lucrative impacts do you think travelling has on your golfers?

A: “I think it is great to get the experience to travel and see other parts of the country. We’ve been fortunate enough to play each of our tournaments in different states, while travelling through many more. It’s a good schedule and I think the guys really like it. Sometimes it’s tough academically because you’re having to turn in assignments early and there is the possibility of returning late to Guilford. The long trips allow for good team bonding and opportunities to learn a lot about each other. There are aspects of sports that, if you’re on the outside and not playing them, you don’t get to experience.”

Q: Guilford College, based on Golfstat.com’s rankings on Oct. 30, is one of four top-10 teams with multiple tournament victories. Based on how the season ended, are you comfortable being ranked 9^th below teams such as La Verne University that has only played in a handful of tournaments?

A: There is a lot of guess-work that goes into determining placements. Golfstat is more formula-driven, meaning that there is minimal human thought into picking which team is seeded higher than the other. It’s accurate when it is evaluating teams that constantly play each other. However, when you throw in teams like La Verne, someone we don’t play as much as the others, its tough to determine which is better. The computer does its best with the statistics provided and coaches have been attempting to understand it for a while. At the end of the day, it’s just rankings and we are trying to attain our own goals and get better every day.”

Q: What are you expecting your golfers to do this winter offseason?

A: We have a great facility that our athletes have access to at all times. They understand what their goals are, which is winning the ODACs and National Championship. We start back up officially in the middle of February.  All the work they put, whether it be conditioning themselves or practicing their mechanics, comes down to if they are preparing better than the other teams.