THE GUILFORDIAN
OCTOBER 2, 1 998
Basketball's loss is golf's gain
By Tim McFarlin
STAFF WRITER
"I thought golf was nerdy. I've
always wanted to play basketball.
I love the game." These are not
words you would expect to hear
from your average two-time Ail-
American golfer. You definitely
wouldn't hear them from one of
your average top-ten returning
Division 111 players in the nation.
But then again, there is nothing
average about Guilford senior Bo
Reitz.
Reitz started golfing at about
the age of six. That's not too hard
to believe since his father played
four years on the PGA Tour. His
father is also the head pro at the
River Ridge Country Club. With a
father like that and a mother who
also played, you can see how eas
ily pressure could have been put
on Bo to golf. The amazing thing
is that he says there was very little
pressure.
"Some people may have ex
pected me to golf well," Reitz said.
"If I came out and shot in the 80s
everyday they would want to know
what my problem was, but for the
most part it was left up to me."
As well as golf, Reitz played
basketball for the Milbrook High
School team in his junior and se
nior years. The golf team won the
state championships all four years
that he attended. By the end of his
senior year, Reitz had cast aside
his thoughts on golf and shifted
them to his love of basketball. He
worked out intensively to get in
shape in order to play basketball
at Guilford College.
Celebrate Guilford!
Join the Guilford community
for a celebration!
Wechesday, October 7,1998
1100am-1 -30pm
Founders Lawn, Founders Lobby,
and the Cafeteria
Sponsored by the Community Time Committee.
For more information, please call Anne
Lrriqust (x 2127) orthe FYC (x 2425).
: T \s4e '4 •
: MloouO :
: Guilford's :
: Coming Out Ball :
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!• I>aturia^,October 3rd 2
* 10:00 p.m.-1:00 a.m. I
"I didn't play any
golf in the summer be
fore college," Reitz
said. "I was so into
basketball, but I
needed to be in shape
to play for a college
team."
Basketball/golf
coach Jack Jensen
tried to get Reitz to
change his mind.
"I told Bo he was
a golfer and that he
was better suited for
golf than basketball,"
Jensen said. Reitz
agreed by the end of
the hoops season when
he was only seeing
about eight minutes of
action per game. How
ever, Jensen urged
him to wait until the
next season before
playing for the golf
team.
"I knew that Bo
could lose a year of eli
gibility if he failed to
do well in that first
season," Jensen said.
"But 80. as well as his
parents, felt that he
was ready to play. I
couldn't tell him that he couldn't
play golf; he was paying tuition to
come here, but 1 did my best to con
vince him to wait. He just really
wanted to play again." It turned
out that Jensen was right. Reitz
lost a season.
By his sophomore year,
though, he was back on track. He
earned second team All-American
honors and placed fifth in the
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COURTESY OF SPORTS INFORMATION
Bo Reitz is a two-time All-American golfer.
league championships.
"I'm always going," said Reitz.
"I like to play fast. I think I play
better when I go faster." He can
play games in about two hours if
they are at his pace. His personal
ity is much like his golf game.
Words pour out of his mouth as
fast as his brain can process them.
"I'm aggressive," Reitz said.
"Driving the ball is my favorite
part of playing. I get
to swing harder, and
I'm not really much of
a finesse player any
way."
Low numbers
tend to come in clus
ters for the senior
golfer.
"I can get kind of
streaky," said Reitz.
"When I play well, I
can play really well."
This could be why he
won the Old Domin
ion Athletic Confer
ence (ODAC) Player
of the Year Award,
not to mention the
ODAC Tournament
last year.
As for the future,
he intends to play on
the mini-lours. "I
need to play some
more before the PGA,"
Reitz said. "But that
is definitely where 1
want to go."
Reitz came to
Guilford because it
was the only place
where he could play
basketball and golf. It
was small, and his girl-
friend goes to neighboring UNCG.
"If I had it all to do over
again, I would still come to
Guilford," he said. "I wouldn't try
to play ball, but I would still
come here. Being successful at
golf is great, but I'm more proud
of going to college." He has good
reason to be. He is the first on
his father's side of the family to
go to college.
11