Upcoming Event: Men's Golf versus Tarheel Intercollegiate on April 11, 2026
Men's Golf
vs. Tarheel Intercollegiate
Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Owlpix.com
Season Recap: Men's Golf on the Up and Up
5/14/2019 2:47:00 PM | Men's Golf
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The first year under Florida Atlantic University men's golf head coach Ryan Jamison has concluded and Owl fans should be encouraged by the progress of the squad in just one season.
"I thought we made a tremendous step in the right direction," said Jamison. "We had a lot of growth on our team. We're a very young team, so anytime you can give a lot of reps to the younger guys I think that's incredibly important for not only the growth of the team but the growth of these individuals."
The team enjoyed its second best scoring average in program history, averaging 293.04 for year. That average is over seven strokes better than last season. That helped boost their Golfstat.com ranking up 20 spots over the course of the season. The Owls also had their best score in the Conference USA Championship since joining the league in 2013 with a 899 score for the three rounds.
"Sully Zagerman was a pretty consistent force for us this year," said Jamison. "Karan Nalam took a huge step in the right direction. He played in every tournament for us. Patrick Poate had a solid year. I think Patrick has a really good opportunity to grow as a player this summer. I look for big things from all three of those guys in the future."
Zagerman was the top finisher for the Owls most of the season. He took a full two strokes off his average score for an average of 72.50 for the season. That season score is the second best in FAU history, behind Steve LeBrun who is currently playing professionally on the Web.com Tour. Zagerman had a long list of accolades this season which included winning C-USA Golfer of the Week twice and being named to the C-USA All-Academic Team. He shot two of the program's top-10 54-hole scores this season with a 205 (tied for third) at the FAU Spring Championship and 207 (tied for eighth) at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate. He'll go into his senior season with the fourth best career scoring average at FAU, which sits at 74.41.
Nalam was one of the most improved players on the squad, taking his average score from 78.42 last season to 74.54 this year. He led the team at the Patriot Intercollegiate with a 1-over score. Poate improved his average score to 73.77 for the season which is the 12th best average in program history. Eric Dekarski made the biggest improvement on the team. In 2016-17, Dekarski had an average score of 85.75. This season, the redshirt averaged 76.43 marking nearly a 10-stroke improvement to his game.
"We had two freshmen who played a lot in (BJ) Morrison and Lynes Behling. There was a lot asked of those of those guys to come in and contribute to our team. I hope they take the lessons of this year and apply to their summer golf so that they can come in and be competitive next year."
Bruce Morrison, Jr. and Behling joined the team in January. Morrison got to work right away and led the Owls at the Tiger Invitational finishing 5-over par. Behling had his best performance at the FAU Spring Championship, finishing 6-under par.
"We've definitely made a step in the right direction, but I think the thing we're looking at now is to take that next huge step next year," said Jamison. "We have some solid recruits coming in. They're going to challenge the guys we have on campus right now and hopefully will push those guys to be better. I think we'll be able to compete within the conference next year and to compete to win a lot more tournaments. Ultimately, all we can do is work hard the entire year, do things the right way and hopefully get a lot out of it."
For complete coverage of FAU men's golf, follow us on Twitter (@FAUMGolf), Instagram (@FAU_Mens_Golf) and Facebook (FAU Men's Golf).
"I thought we made a tremendous step in the right direction," said Jamison. "We had a lot of growth on our team. We're a very young team, so anytime you can give a lot of reps to the younger guys I think that's incredibly important for not only the growth of the team but the growth of these individuals."
The team enjoyed its second best scoring average in program history, averaging 293.04 for year. That average is over seven strokes better than last season. That helped boost their Golfstat.com ranking up 20 spots over the course of the season. The Owls also had their best score in the Conference USA Championship since joining the league in 2013 with a 899 score for the three rounds.
"Sully Zagerman was a pretty consistent force for us this year," said Jamison. "Karan Nalam took a huge step in the right direction. He played in every tournament for us. Patrick Poate had a solid year. I think Patrick has a really good opportunity to grow as a player this summer. I look for big things from all three of those guys in the future."
Zagerman was the top finisher for the Owls most of the season. He took a full two strokes off his average score for an average of 72.50 for the season. That season score is the second best in FAU history, behind Steve LeBrun who is currently playing professionally on the Web.com Tour. Zagerman had a long list of accolades this season which included winning C-USA Golfer of the Week twice and being named to the C-USA All-Academic Team. He shot two of the program's top-10 54-hole scores this season with a 205 (tied for third) at the FAU Spring Championship and 207 (tied for eighth) at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate. He'll go into his senior season with the fourth best career scoring average at FAU, which sits at 74.41.
Nalam was one of the most improved players on the squad, taking his average score from 78.42 last season to 74.54 this year. He led the team at the Patriot Intercollegiate with a 1-over score. Poate improved his average score to 73.77 for the season which is the 12th best average in program history. Eric Dekarski made the biggest improvement on the team. In 2016-17, Dekarski had an average score of 85.75. This season, the redshirt averaged 76.43 marking nearly a 10-stroke improvement to his game.
"We had two freshmen who played a lot in (BJ) Morrison and Lynes Behling. There was a lot asked of those of those guys to come in and contribute to our team. I hope they take the lessons of this year and apply to their summer golf so that they can come in and be competitive next year."
Bruce Morrison, Jr. and Behling joined the team in January. Morrison got to work right away and led the Owls at the Tiger Invitational finishing 5-over par. Behling had his best performance at the FAU Spring Championship, finishing 6-under par.
"We've definitely made a step in the right direction, but I think the thing we're looking at now is to take that next huge step next year," said Jamison. "We have some solid recruits coming in. They're going to challenge the guys we have on campus right now and hopefully will push those guys to be better. I think we'll be able to compete within the conference next year and to compete to win a lot more tournaments. Ultimately, all we can do is work hard the entire year, do things the right way and hopefully get a lot out of it."
For complete coverage of FAU men's golf, follow us on Twitter (@FAUMGolf), Instagram (@FAU_Mens_Golf) and Facebook (FAU Men's Golf).
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