Spring Break
Golf program to terminate at season's end
by Ian Cutler and Mike Prada
Sports | 2/3/09
Posted online at 3:48 AM EST on 2/3/09
/ Last updated at 4:15 PM EST on 2/3/09
The varsity golf program will be suspended at the end of this spring season in order to help fill in a projected $10 million gap in the University's operating budget next year, but golf team members are trying to raise enough money to save the program for at least one more year, according to Director of Athletics Sheryl Sousa '90.
"Difficult decisions were necessary in putting forth a budget reduction plan in Athletics for [fiscal 2010]. As part of that plan, golf will be suspended as a varsity sport at the end of the current academic year, 2008-2009," Sousa wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
The team will play a full schedule this spring, Sousa wrote, but will be suspended after that.
Sousa wrote that the small size of the golf team ensured that "as unpleasant as it is for those directly affected, the impact is to a small number of individuals." She added that "Further, these same factors will make it relatively easy to reinstate golf on the varsity level once the economy turns around and budgets return to a more stable state."
The decision comes after the golf team completed its strongest season in program history. Lee Bloom '10 won the Bowdoin Invitational, becoming the first golfer in program history to do so. As a team, the Judges shot a school-best one-day total of 298 strokes on the second day of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.
"That was the biggest disappointment for me," said coach Bill Shipman, who will continue to coach the fencing team. "We put all this work into recruiting and raising the level, and then it all came to a screeching halt."
Members of the team are attempting to raise enough money to keep the varsity program alive for the 2009 to 2010 season. According to team captain Aaron Hattenbach '09, Sousa told the team in a meeting Jan. 26 that it would cost $22,000 to keep the team operating at the varsity level for next season. He said the team has raised just over $7,500 from donations as of yesterday. The squad must raise the money by an estimated deadline of mid-March, when the athletics budget is set to be proposed to University President Jehuda Reinharz, according to Shipman.
"Difficult decisions were necessary in putting forth a budget reduction plan in Athletics for [fiscal 2010]. As part of that plan, golf will be suspended as a varsity sport at the end of the current academic year, 2008-2009," Sousa wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
The team will play a full schedule this spring, Sousa wrote, but will be suspended after that.
Sousa wrote that the small size of the golf team ensured that "as unpleasant as it is for those directly affected, the impact is to a small number of individuals." She added that "Further, these same factors will make it relatively easy to reinstate golf on the varsity level once the economy turns around and budgets return to a more stable state."
The decision comes after the golf team completed its strongest season in program history. Lee Bloom '10 won the Bowdoin Invitational, becoming the first golfer in program history to do so. As a team, the Judges shot a school-best one-day total of 298 strokes on the second day of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.
"That was the biggest disappointment for me," said coach Bill Shipman, who will continue to coach the fencing team. "We put all this work into recruiting and raising the level, and then it all came to a screeching halt."
Members of the team are attempting to raise enough money to keep the varsity program alive for the 2009 to 2010 season. According to team captain Aaron Hattenbach '09, Sousa told the team in a meeting Jan. 26 that it would cost $22,000 to keep the team operating at the varsity level for next season. He said the team has raised just over $7,500 from donations as of yesterday. The squad must raise the money by an estimated deadline of mid-March, when the athletics budget is set to be proposed to University President Jehuda Reinharz, according to Shipman.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Andy
posted 2/03/09 @ 3:01 PM EST
453 more cuts of $22,000.00 and you get to the $10 million mark. It could be the death of a thousand cuts or as W.C. Fields said in the movies "from the little acorn grows the mighty oak"
will tickle
william tickle '03
posted 2/04/09 @ 4:49 PM EST
I was a junior in college when Bill Shipman took as coach of our golf team. I can tell you first hand that he put in monumental effort transforming a program that was best characterized as unmanaged, unfocused, & underachieving talent into a top performing team. (Continued…)
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