Where are They Now Wednesday - Joe Ross
Where are They Now Wednesday - Caroline Bevillard
Where are They Now Wednesday - Everett Teaford
Where are They Now Wednesday - Charlie Edwards
Where are They Now Wednesday - Ricky Harris
Where are They Now Wednesday - Gene Sauers
Wednesday of each week during the football season Georgia Southern Athletics will catch up with a former coach, administrator, student-athlete, trainer, cheerleader, etc. to see where they are now and how their time at Georgia Southern helped get them there.
Gene Sauers
Professional Golfer on the Champions Tour
Savannah, Ga.
Gene Sauers was the Trans America Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year in 1983. He led the Eagles to a second consecutive TAAC golf title as a junior and recorded seven top-10 finishes in 10 tournaments in 1983. He later qualified for the PGA that same year and was the youngest player on the Tour in 1984. He has played professionally on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and the Champions Tour during his career. He won three PGA Tour events and had four dozen top-10 finishes. This season on the Champions Tour, Sauers has seven top-10 finishes and three top-three finishes. He has played in 19 events and made all 19 cuts. Sauers is a 2012 inductee to the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and a member of the Georgia Southern Athletics Hall of Fame.
Q: How did your experience as a student-athlete at Georgia Southern prepare you for life after college?
GS: "My experience at Georgia Southern was pretty awesome. I got to play a lot. That was a big thing. I first went to a junior college before I transferred over to Georgia Southern, because I wanted to go to a smaller place where I could get experience and keep playing. That was what happened at Georgia Southern as well. I was recruited under Doug Gordon, and I got to play every week. I was either number 1 or 2 on the team all year long. Getting to play a lot early on prepared me for playing tournament to tournament, where I was competing with all the good college players."
Q: What are some of your most memorable moments as an Eagle?
GS: "The Schenkel Tournament at Forest Heights was always the top tournament. We always prepared hard for that. I remember Tripp Kuhlke, Rusty Strawn, Steve Smart, Marion Dantzler and Phil Wagner were on my team. We had a good team. Everybody I talk to today out on the tour says 'that college tournament was just awesome' and it was."
Q: Favorite course you have played on?
GS: "There are a lot of them. I have always liked Hilton Head. Muirfield Village, where they held the president's cup last week, is always a great one. Pebble Beach, Spyglass, Cypress all that right in there is some of the most beautiful and spectacular views that you could ever see playing golf. I just played out there in a tournament. I played with a junior, and he wasn't playing all that well but said 'you know what? I don't really care how bad I am playing the views out here are just spectacular'. The Doral in Miami has always been a good one for me and of course Augusta. You don't even see a weed on that golf course. The fairways are just so plush and the greens are awesome."
Q: What are some things that you would tell a young golfer as they start out in the game?
GS: "Believe in yourself, work towards your goals and always have a positive mindset. When I grew up and was watching golf on TV as a young boy I said 'I wanted to do that'. Set little goals and then start setting higher goals. I go back to my high school days. You know how you always signed the annual. I always said at the end of whatever I wrote Gene Sauers PGA Tour. They always laughed 'look at what Sauers wrote.' It was something I believed in in my heart. They come back to me today and say 'do you know what you wrote in that annual when you were a freshman or sophomore in high school?' I said 'ya'll didn't believe me.' That just goes to show you that the mind is a powerful thing, and you can achieve things through whatever you believe in."
Q: How has the equipment evolved and changed from when you first started playing to now?
GS: "It is night and day. When I first started you were playing with actual wood woods and with a lot of balls if you miss it you are going to cut it right in half. Today you can miss a ball and it won't even cut it. The ball goes a lot farther. They made the sweet spot a little bigger in the irons and in the woods. I heard recently that the next thing the USGA is going to go after is the golf ball. They want to make it spin more which enables the ball to go up higher and lose its distance some. Technology has come a long way just like in everything."
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