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Rhys Davies, left, walks the fairway with Rhys Enoch, center, and Michael Stewart.
(Joe Avento / Johnson City Press)

Helping hands: ETSU golfers benefit from time with Davies, Nolan

By Joe Avento
Press Sports Writer
javento@johnsoncitypress.com

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Two former ETSU golfers now playing the game for a living came back to school this week. Rhys Davies and Keith Nolan spent a day playing with the Bucs at The Ridges, and they had a very captive audience.

“It’s great having a guy like Rhys who has that experience and knowledge of the game,” ETSU sophomore Michael Stewart said. “Just to hear him share what he did in college and what he does on the course ... it’s nice to see how he plays and how he goes about the golf course. It’s a great opportunity.

“You learn from guys like Rhys and Keith. You can only ask them so much. It’s great to see what they do on the golf course.”

Nolan, who spent a couple of years on the PGA Tour and has knocked around on the Nationwide Tour in recent years, played with Seamus Power, the reigning Atlantic Sun Conference player of the year, and new freshman Garth McGee.

“They have as much talent as we had back then,” Nolan said of the current Bucs, who have struggled in their first two tournaments of the fall. “We had more guys who would step up and take charge of the team. They need to find that one guy.”

Nolan helped the Bucs finish third in the 1996 NCAA Championship, one shot ahead of Tiger Woods’ Stanford team. His tricky up-and-down par on the final hole at The Honors Course kept ETSU ahead of Stanford.

Nolan said three-time PGA Tour winner Mike Hulbert used to come back to ETSU and offer advice to the team when he was in school, and he’s trying to do the same.

“Coach (Fred Warren) has been so good to me, it’s nice to come back and help out a little bit,” Nolan said

Davies, the most successful golfer in ETSU history with 10 collegiate victories, played with Stewart and Rhys Enoch on Wednesday. Enoch came to ETSU mainly on the advice of Davies and their Welsh national coach.

“It’s great he’s here,” Enoch said. “It’s amazing. Me and Michael have been picking his brain all the way around. There are always things to learn. In golf you never stop learning.”

Davies has won twice this year on the European Challenge Tour and has earned a European Tour card for next year. His recent schedule had him playing 10 tournaments in 12 weeks in places such as Kazakhstan, Poland and Switzerland.

“It’s nice to be back here and I’m getting a chance to practice,” Davies said. “The last two months have been really hectic. That was a lot back-to-back. It’s been a really busy period.

“Sometimes it’s nice to just have a game of golf where you’re not worrying about your score, working on a few things. I’m not grinding out a score here. I’m trying to get my game in shape for a few weeks time when I do compete again.”

The final two European Challenge Tour events are in Italy, and Davies is eighth on that tour’s order of merit despite playing less than half the schedule.

“It’s been a great year,” said Davies, who started the year on the Asian Tour before finding his footing in Europe. “I really don’t like to review it until it’s over. It’s still going, but it has been good.”

Davies, who qualified for this year’s British Open, has always had a world-class short game. But he says it’s gotten even better, one reason he’s begun to win as a pro.

“I think I have a very good attitude and mental approach,” he said. “My short game has probably gone up a notch. My long game has been OK, hasn’t been great. I’m improving.”

As his round with the ETSU players neared the end, Davies said he was impressed with the Bucs.

“They’re all really good players, some really good up and coming players,” he said. “Maybe I can drag them along or they can drag me along.”