New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
UConn’s Manuel gets NCAA spot after Tait’s concession
Gesture by Seton Hall golfer a show of sportsmanship
UConn sophomore Caleb Manuel’s 206th and final shot at the Big East Men’s Golf Championship was a beauty, perhaps his best of the three-day event, straight as an arrow off the 18th tee at Calloway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga.
The ball traveled about 10 feet, the last little leg of a feel-good march into an upcoming NCAA regional tournament.
Manuel’s first 205 shots left him tied with Seton Hall’s Gregor Tait, who had already clinched a spot in the NCAA’s individual field because the Pirates won the Big East team competition. Manuel and Tait were named co-medalists in the individual competition, distinctions that would not have changed in a playoff.
All that was on the line was an NCAA bid and Tait, with his own already secured, wanted Manuel to have it. So he conceded.
“All I had to do was play one shot,” Manuel said. “And that was it. We shook hands and walked off.”
Sportsmanship, long a hallmark in golf, was alive and well between these players and programs — rivals, sure, but also friendly tenants in a Big East neighborhood that Tait, in conceding, made sure the nation will see a little more of May 16-18.
“I really wanted to double-check the rules, whether we were playing off for the individual title or just the regionals bid,” Tait, a graduate student from Martlesham Heath, England, told John Fanta of the Big East. “As soon as I knew it was the regionals bid, it was a no-brainer for me. … The Big East is not typically donned as a golf conference, but we’ve got some players here. And the more players we can have at the regional championships, the better. I know Caleb will give us a good showing. He’s a seriously good player and a friend, too. I would like to think he would do the same for me.”
Manuel entered the day with a six-shot lead in the individual competition and Tait was one of three players tied for second place. Manuel played Wednesday’s final round unaware of where he stood but figured a player — Tait, he correctly presumed — had charged up the leaderboard because UConn coach Dave Pezzino and Seton Hall coach Clay White seemed to be paying particularly close attention as he played the final holes.
When Manuel tapped in for par on 18, finishing with a 1-under-par 71, he looked at UConn assistant coach Zack Zaback and asked, “Did I win the thing?”
He hadn’t, of course. Trait had fired a 7-under 65 to tie him at an overall score of 15-under. Pezzino approached and told Manuel, “Get ready.”
It was on to a playoff. It would have been, anyway.
“It’s who the kid is,” Pezzino said of Tait conceding. “Gregor is a wonderful young man and Clay has a good group over there. It doesn’t surprise me that Gregor would do that. If a team was going to do it and a kid was going to do it, it would be that team and that kid. It’s what our sport is. And that’s exactly how we feel about them.”
Manuel’s place in the NCAA Tournament, the regional locations and fields for which will be unveiled Wednesday, gives UConn some postseason national representation it had hoped for more of. The Huskies entered the final round tied with Marquette for the team lead at 570. Seton Hall was just a stroke back, and wound up winning by three strokes over Marquette.
UConn won the championship last season — a year after the program came perilously close to being disbanded due to university budget concerns. This time around, they struggled in the final round and wound up 11 shots back.
Manuel, however, was still chasing the individual title when the team title was already lost. He had shot 68 and 66 in the first two rounds, respectively. When he made birdie at 16, he thought it might have extended a lead and essentially clinched the title.
“I had a stretch from rounds 1-3 where I didn’t make a bogey for 42 holes so I was hitting it really well and was making putts I needed to,” Manuel said. “Just kind of stress-free for me out there. I’ve won plenty of times in my golfing life and career, so I know how to win, but it was a little interesting having such a big lead after round two.
I’m used to being in contention, like right there, maybe two shots ahead — but six shots is a lot. I was definitely nervous.”
Manuel, of Topsham, Maine, was the Big East freshman of the year last season. His victory this week was his second of the season, in addition to the UConn Invitational. His scoring average of 71.09, over 11 tournaments, was second in the conference, behind the 70.41 of Marquette’s Hunter Eichhorn. Still, Manuel was omitted from the five-player All-Big East First Team, voted on by conference coaches.
“When I told him after his first round [on Monday] that conference awards came out and, unfortunately, he didn’t make first team but he made second team, he said, ‘Coach, I don’t care about that. We’re not here for that this week,’” Pezzino said. “I paused and I was like, well, there’s my guy. I kind of figured something like that would come out of his mouth. It’s all about the team to him.”
But when the time was right it was all about the individual title.
“I battled hard,” Manuel said. “I didn’t really know where I was [on the leaderboard] so I didn’t put any extra pressure on myself. I didn’t know where the team was at, either, so I was just trying to make as many good swings and birdies as I could. I’ll take 71 on the final day and hat’s off to him for shooting 7-under.”
Hat’s off for the gesture that followed, too.
“We were getting ready to flip a tee to see who was going to go first then Gregor asked the head rules guy from the Big East whether we were playing for both the title and the regional?” Manuel said.
“He said jus the regional. And Gregor goes, ‘Oh, then I’m going to give it to him.’ Shook hands, little bit of a hug there. It was a good moment. I felt the respect from them and their program. If I was in that situation I would have done the same for him. He’s an elite player and competitor and I’m happy for him, too.”