Despite the obstacles they have faced, the UD men's golf team has high hopes for its upcoming spring season.

With the resignation of head coach Brad Smith just last week and a subpar preseason prediction from the Atlantic 10 Preseason Coaches Poll, the Flyers have been burdened with challenges as they prepare for the competition starting in just a few short weeks.

Smith had been the head coach of the men's golf team since the 2001-2002 season after being the head coach of the women's team since 1996. For the past 20 years, Smith has also been a member of the PGA. Along with all this, he also owns the Golf Doctor, a full-service golf company in Springboro, Ohio. However, last Thursday, Smith announced that he would step down from his position a the men's golf team coach. His reasons included an increased amount of time needed to devote to his family and business.

'The resignation of our former coach is definitely unexpected but also understandable,' junior John Zaller commented. 'Brad provided several years of leadership for our program, and we wish him the best of luck in the future.'

As to how Smith's decision will affect the team for the upcoming season, a couple of the players still believe the Flyers will have a great season.

Temporarily taking over the day-to-day operations for Smith will be UD Associate Director of Athletics Joe Owens as well as UD women's assistant golf coach Sally Kosters. According to DaytonFlyers.com, a search for Smith's successor as head coach will begin immediately.

Just weeks before Smith's resignation, the A-10 Preseason Coaches Poll predicted the Flyers to finish 10th overall in the conference. UD's rival Xavier is predicted to finish first overall.

When asked what he thought of the prediction, Zaller remarked that he wasn't surprised. But is it fair?

'It is fair,' Zaller continued. 'We haven't performed up to our capabilities and we'll take it as a challenge.'

Sophomore Mike Molnar agrees with his teammate. 'If you are talking about the coaching situation or the preseason prediction we will take each of them as a challenge to prove to everyone that we can succeed.'

With an extremely competitive field of play this season, the team will have to bury their burdens and focus on one match at a time if they plan on proving the predictions wrong.

'The A-10 is getting more and more competitive with a few teams in the top 50 in the country,' Zaller said. A top 5 finish in the conference championship would be a great accomplishment for us.' Molnar concurred,