It's a cinderella story. The story of a former club team that has regained varsity status, and is now embarking upon their 2000 season.

For the past two years the St. Olaf men's college golf team has operated under the status of a club team. The program had been cut by the college, but a few of the students organized the club team and continued to make their way to the driving range, tee it up at Northfield Country Club, and even play in a few tournaments against other varsity programs.

However, last spring the school decided to reinstate the varsity program and put them back under the coaching of Ken Pratt. With the new funding from the Athletic Endowment, Ole Golf is back and here to stay.

"It was a good decision for the school," said Pratt. "It'll help the school with admissions and their image." Pratt has been involved in the program since 1988, serving as head coach eight of the past twelve years.

Seniors Max Windmiller and Jon McGrath have been with the program since their freshman year and have continued to grind it out throughout the tough times. "It is great to see Max, Jon, and all the players out this year," said Pratt, "the team has the talent to do well, but the mental side of playing competitively is still lacking. The fact is, they've just been away from the competitive setting for so long."

The leader on the course so far this season has been first-year Brandt Uthus. Uthus has been able to score very well and shot an even par 72 at the Bemidji State Golf Invitational. Junior Brian Odlaug and sophomore Eric Polzin have both been bright spots for the Oles this season. "Brian has played in a lot of pro-am tournaments this summer and that has helped him in the tournaments so far," said Pratt, "Eric also has the potential to play very well, but the mental aspect just hasn't been there."

The team has already played in two tournaments so far this season, the Bemidji Invitational and the St. John's Invitational. The team finished 17th out of 20 teams in Bemidji with a team score of 663. "Our nerves got the best of us in Bemidji on the first day, but we were able to settle down for the second day," said Pratt, "However, last weekend up at St. John's we just didn't play well. We want to be able to shoot around 640 as a team." The team finished eighth out of nine teams in the St. John's Invitational with a team score of 693.

For now the team is trying to get ready for the season ending tournaments, the MIAC Conference and the Twin Cities Classic. "This weekend we play against Carleton at Northfield Country Club," said Pratt, "It'll be nice to be on our home course and play in a competitive atmosphere."