THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 1, 1995 TAG: 9511010623
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Athlete of the Week
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
A year ago Cox golf coach Stuart Holland thought his No. 1 player, Troy Cummings, would win medalist honors in the Group AAA state tournament.
Instead teammate Matt Paulson won it.
This year Holland figured Paulson would win again. Cummings won it.
``It was a neat switch,'' said Holland, whose team finished second in the state tournament to Mills Godwin while Cummings was taking a 1-shot victory for individual honors over Godwin's Mitch Begun.
``Golf is a hard game to figure,'' added the coach. ``The past couple of years Troy has played No. 1 for us and I really thought he would win the state title last year.
``Matt's game was coming together then and he won it. And this year he was playing better than Troy so I looked for him to repeat as state champion.
``But Troy is one really steady player and that paid off for him in the state. He played well for us throughout the year and it was a fitting finish for him to win since he's a senior.''
Cummings was chosen The Virginian-Pilot's male athlete of the week for his state victory at Virginia Oaks Golf Course in Gainesville. He put together rounds of 75-81 for a 36-hole 156.
Cummings, a 17-year-old, 5-foot-10, 160-pounder, hopes the championship will help him secure a college scholarship in golf.
A 74-average shooter for the season, Cummings was never medalist in any matches until winning the state. ``I was in position to win and finished second a lot,'' he said. ``At the state I made up my mind that I would just play the course and not my opponent and that's why I won.''
A four-year starter at Cox, Cummings has played in only two regular-season matches that the Falcons lost.
This final season didn't start out the way Cummings wanted it to. He was hurrying out of his home for the second match of the year when he fell, spraining his left ankle. He was unable to play in the next three matches, staying out of action from Aug. 29 until Sept. 14.
``But winning the state made everything turn out fine,'' he said. ``If the team had won, it would have been perfect.'' by CNB