Wake Forest Athletics
Getting To Know: Charlie Harrison
4/4/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Since becoming a serious golfer in high school, junior Charlie Harrison has not let go of his passion. Now in his third season, the Atlanta, Georgia native has lowered his scoring average to 74 strokes per round. Harrison and the men's golf team will travel to Tampa, Fla., this weekend to compete in the Gary Koch Invitational. That will be the team's final tune-up before the ACC Championship. WakeForestSports.com's Maggie Cancelosi sat down with Charlie to talk about his golf game, the Masters Tournament and the legacy of the Wake Forest Golf Program.
Q: Who do you project to win the Masters?
A: I think that a lot of people probably see it as a two horse race with Rory and Tiger. I like Bill Haas as my dark horse--he's a Wake guy and a friend of mine, so in the spirit of friendship you have to support your boys.
Q: What is your all-time favorite professional tournament to either watch on TV or actually attend?
A: Without a doubt the Masters. I remember going for the first time as a 10 year old kid with my dad, and it was almost like being in heaven. I couldn't believe how green and perfect everything was--it's pretty special.
Q: Have you ever had the opportunity to play Augusta National?
A: I have. I played it as a freshman in high school. It was a surprise birthday present from my dad and my granddad. They told me that we were going down to Reynolds Plantation to play some golf. I fell asleep in the car, and when I woke up, we were at the front gate of Augusta National, and I almost screamed. I couldn't believe where we were. It was before I was any good, so I didn't play very well, but it was certainly a great experience.
Q: Have you and the team met your expectations for the season?
A: It sounds kind of cynical to say this, but I don't think that anybody on the team on a personal level has played great golf this year. Lee [Bedford] has played pretty well. I've had a few good finishes, but I don't think that anybody has been performing consistently or at the top level. I know that we will come ACCs and Regionals. As for me personally, I think that I've done a better job this year of controlling my emotions. I tend to be on a roller coaster on the golf course with highs and then I get upset at myself. If you watch the best players in the game, they almost wear emotionless expressions. You can't really tell from far away if they just made a 30 foot putt for an eagle, or if they snap hooked it out of bounds. I think that's pretty admirable, so that's something that I'm trying to do.
Q: What is usually your biggest distraction on the course, and how do you overcome it?
A: It sounds stereotypical to say this, but you can only control what's coming up. I think that's why people get frustrated with golf, because the only way that you can make up for mistakes is to not make them again. You can't go back and fix anything except for maybe birdying the next hole. You can't rewrite the past in golf, and I think that a lot of people, myself included, have good routines with chip shots, putts, full swings or whatever it may be. If you have a good pre-shot routine, it tends to block out the external and allows for you to focus on what you're doing in the moment.
Q: What clubs are you using right now?
A: I have a good relationship with the people at Titleist, and they've been very generous to both me and my roommate through playing Junior Golf. I'm very happy with what I'm playing. I know that they have some new drivers and 3-woods coming out in the Fall, so I'll be excited to see what's going on there.
Q: What celebrity golfer would make you feel star struck?
A: As a senior in high school, I went down to the Honda Classic in Florida, and it was right when Rory McIlroy was coming on the stage in 2009. He was just getting his star status, and I watched him play that day from far away and I couldn't believe how well he hit the ball. Then, I was inside the PGA National Hotel and I passed him in the hallway and couldn't believe how small he was. I don't think he's much taller than 5'7'' or 5'8'' and it just amazed me that this kind of peanut of a guy was dominating on the golf course, and it was really something to see.
Q: If you could win one PGA Tournament, which one would you want to win?
A: There would be two. It would be neat to win The Players Championship because the perks that come along with that are great with exemptions and almost $2 million dollars. If you win The Players Championship, you essentially lock up your career and you have a place to play for a long time. Also, it would be neat to win The Masters because of the lifetime exemption.
Q: Do you feel as though there is a lot of pressure being a golfer at a school like Wake Forest when there are so many prestigious alumnae in the professional golfing world?
A: I think that there's pressure in the sense that we want to play our best so that we can continue to be seen in the same light as guys like Bill Haas, Webb Simpson, Lanny Wadkins, Coach Jerry Haas and his brother Jay. We obviously play because we love the game, but I think that a lot of guys come to Wake Forest because they want to take the torch from the guys who've played before us and hopefully accomplish what they've been able to do, and if not surpass them.
Q: At practice, do you like to evenly split up your time or do you focus on something in particular like driving or putting?
A: I don't hit a whole lot of golf balls, and I used to. I didn't start playing golf until much later than other guys on the team, so everybody wants to pull out their driver and see how far they can hit it. I was definitely that way in high school--I liked to hit a lot of golf balls and I probably neglected my short game. I feel like that has turned around lately, especially in college, because everybody here hits it far and straight, but what separates good players from mediocre players is their short game.
Q: What's crucial in your golf bag?
A: I always have chapstick. If I don't have chapstick in my golf bag and I need it on the course, it will ruin my day. Also, I have probably ten dollars' worth of quarters in my bag because Coach Haas gave me so much grief about not having a ball marker when we got to the course. I took a ten dollar bill to the bank and got change in quarters. You have to have quarters and chapstick.
Q: If you could be a Division I athlete in another sport, which one would you pick and why?
A: I would have to say football. I respect what those guys do so much. We see them all the time-- our golf center is practically overlooking their practice field, and we'll be up there on a 90 degree day just chipping and able to stop and grab bottles of water while those guys are roughing it down there. My heart goes out to them. I'm a bigger guy for a golfer, and out-of-season I've thought about talking to Coach Grobe and asking him if I could suit up for one play. I would probably get hit hard but it would be a fun story to tell.
