The Grand Valley State men’s golf team recently signed four new golfers for the 2019-20 season. Drew Coble, Charles DeLong, Alex Jordan and Nick Krueger are all golfers who have racked up accomplishments in their high school careers. 

With the graduation of one of the team’s best senior classes ever, the four recruits will be coming into next season with expectations to contribute right away, as head coach Gary Bissell reflects on how good it is, and how good it can be.

“At the end of the day if you can play golf, that’s the most attractive thing,” Bissell said. “I’m trying to win championships here and the thing this class has is, on paper, it’s the best class we’ve ever signed by a landslide in terms of national ranking and high school success. On paper they look really good, but they don’t just look good on paper.” 

Each recruit brings something different to the table and each has a different skill set that will be beneficial to the team, allowing them to perform at an elite level.

“Charlie DeLong and Nick Krueger are both ranked in the top 100 in the country in their class and there is a reason for that. They are ultra competitive kids, they live golf and they remind me of some of the best players in school history,” Bissell said. 

“Drew Coble, he’s got a great pedigree. His dad is a former golf pro and he is a very smart player and the trait that I think is most attractive about him is he plays well in big events. Alex Jordan is also a hyper-competitive kid and he’s also a tremendous athlete. He’s a really good basketball and soccer player and we are excited to watch him grow because he just recently made golf his main sport.” 

Bissell knows that this class of golfers is an important one because, after this season, the team loses key contributors Mitchell White, Bryce Messner and arguably the program’s best golfer, Alex Scott. The team will be losing members that have been major players in the program for years, and in order to compete the way Bissell would like to, these recruits will have play well right away.

“We are graduating the best class we’ve ever had. I’m not ever going to say that this is a class that is very replaceable, but I think we may have done it with this one,” Bissell said. “Like I said, they are great on paper, and we aren’t sure yet how their game will translate to this level. Based on everything I have seen I think it will translate well. I think for us to be successful I think at least a couple of them will have to contribute right away.”  

While the GVSU men’s golf team is done with their fall season, they will look to train to sustain their success come the spring season.