Tyler Strafaci plays his tee shot at the par 3 17th hole during the final round of the 2018 ACC Championship.
The art of coaching team golf, Heppler believes, is, “Can you get your guys freed up the most to where they’re committed to what they’re doing, they’re not concerned that they’re going to be talked to or we’re going to have a debate about decision,” he explained.
The ultimate goal is to enable players to minimize second-guessing that might impact rhythm.
“I’ve said it a bunch of times: committed to wrong is way better than uncommitted to right,” the coach said. “They’re pulling the clubs [out of their bags]; it’s ludicrous [to tell players how to use them].”
None of this is to suggest that Heppler and McGee don’t jump in.
They only upon occasion offer instruction during competition outside of Heppler moving from one par 3 to another, watching the way tee shots are flying and giving feedback to his student-athletes about how balls are flying.
When the game slows, however, there can be serious conversations.
Heppler walked most rounds with Ogletree in the fall. But he’s stacked up three top-10 finishes in four spring events with Heppler not by his side, but rather moving from one par 3 tee box to the next.
Don’t think there’s no coaching. It just happens to be a mix of subtlety and timing.
Soon after the fall season ended, and the Jackets finished third in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate – three strokes ahead of Wake Forest – Heppler and Ogletree had a sit down.
The pressure of the present was off. The future, though, lie ahead. Ogletree – like every member of the Tech lineup for years and years – wants to play professionally.
“I told him in the fall that he hits it like the guys you see on TV [as in professionals], but he gets destroyed around the greens,” Heppler recalled. “We talked about it freshman year, but nothing happened. I said ‘you’ve got a year and a half of college golf left and then you’re either going to make it or not. You’ve got to do something around the greens.’”
Ogletree went back to Little Rock, Miss., for the break between semesters, didn’t touch his clubs for a few days, and then started cranking on his short game. He continued upon returning to school in January, where Tech’s Noonan practice facility is likely the premier short practice facility in the nation.
“He started at the break, and he hasn’t stopped,” Heppler said. “He also got a wonderful putting tip from Noah that’s really changed his entire experience on the green, which is what you need to have a really good team.
“Noah Norton probably knows as much about putting as any putting guru. [Ogletree’s] just finally made a commitment. Most people don’t want to fail … where do you spend your [practice] time? Where it makes you feel good [pounding 4 irons, in Ogletree’s previous case].”
The Jackets are not paper favorites at ACCs.
There’s Wake Forest, No. 9 Duke, No. 19 Clemson, No. 20 Louisville, No. 23 North Carolina, No. 24 North Carolina State and No. 29 Florida State, which may have the eventual ACC player of the year on its roster.
But the Jackets’ comfort with the venue trumps rankings.
“I definitely think everyone is more excited this year than last year, because we really didn’t know what to expect,” Ogletree said. “I mean we’d heard a lot from older guys about Old North State but really didn’t know what Old North State was. We kind of fell in love with the place.”
Heppler is OK mind that. He’s more concerned that the Jackets love their games and play that way. It’s OK to think that Old North State Club is a charmed place. That’s an acceptable kind of thinking that has worked well for Georgia Tech over the years.
“How that happens, or why that happens, I’m not sure … I don’t doubt that that exists,” the coach said. “In all due respect, I don’t think that they think they’re not the favorite. We’ve had almost as good a year as [Wake Forest] had. They’ve had a great spring. They won the Floridian, which was a great performance for them, but I think they think we’re the best team there. It should be an incredible shootout.”
