Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 25, 1994                   TAG: 9408250080
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

DEMON GOLF COACH HOPES TO KEEP WINNING TRADITION

Fortunately for Christianburg, those coaches have been good ones, including the current one, Bobby Ashburn, a real pro. Literally.

Ashburn is a Christiansburg native whose resume includes 15 years working and playing at golf clubs in North Carolina and South Carolina. He has competed in several pro tournaments in the Carolina Region, and he was the head pro at the Cleveland Country Club in Shelby, N.C., from 1989-1993. He is currently the pro at the Grip It & Rip It driving range in Christiansburg.

In other words, he was more than qualified to become a high school golf coach. When he called Christiansburg athletic director Gerald Thompson a couple of months ago and offered to assist the golf program, Thompson practically hired him on the spot.

"He contacted us," said Thompson. "I thought, 'He's an excellent player, he's knowledgeable, ... this is nice of him to do this.'"

Thompson was especially grateful because - although he's never played much golf - he'd been pressed into duty as golf coach himself last year when former coach David Hurt took an out-of-state job. The Blue Demons proceeded to win their first New River District golf championship, making Thompson perhaps the most successful golf coach in NRD history.

He doesn't quite see it that way, however.

"I drove [the players] to the matches, but that was about it," he said. "I can't play. I was more like a sponsor. I couldn't show them how to grip a club or swing it."

That's Ashburn's forte. In just one week of matches, Ashburn has already helped a couple of golfers work out kinks in their swings. He can tell a player how to correct mistakes in the middle of a round, something only the best high school golf coaches can do.

"If there's a problem, he can fix you up just like that," said Drew Robinson, a junior who is one of Christiansburg's top three players. "He'll ride with you on the course or take you to the driving range after a match. ... Some coaches will just sit in the clubhouse while you play and wait for you to get back."

Ashburn, whose blonde coif gives him a passing resemblance to Johnny Miller, has impeccable golfing credentials. He had a distinguished career at Christiansburg High School, where he helped his team earn a regional appearance as a junior, back in the days when the NRD was a 12-school league. This year, the NRD has atrophied to just three schools - Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Carroll County.

He has been ranked among the top 40 golfers in the Carolinas Region several times, and he narrowly missed making the field for the Greater Greensboro Open a couple of years ago when he lost in a sudden-death hole during a qualifying round.

Now, he shares his expertise with young golfers.

"Back when I played [in high school], coaches were more like chaperones," Ashburn said. "There was no one to work with me. I haven't been able to work with these kids a lot, but a few of them have pretty good swings. I'm really trying to work with some of the younger players and show them some things."

The problem with having a smart coach like Ashburn is that it will be tough to keep him. He wants to a be a club pro again, and it's possible he could get an offer any day.

"That's what I really want to do," said Ashburn, but "I hope I can see these boys win a championship first."

The Blue Demons have a shot at repeating as NRD champions, although it will be difficult to beat Blacksburg. The Blue Demons lost to the Indians by two strokes last week at Blacksburg Country Club, which is Blacksburg's home course and the site of this year's NRD tournament.

Christiansburg's two best players from last year - Robinson and Wallace - are back, and senior Robbie Baker, who moved to Christiansburg from Titusville, Fla., is a good player who has seen his fair share of competitive golf. He shot an 18-hole round of 80 to finish 11th in his district last year.

That score would have given him medalist honors during last year's NRD tournament.

"I'd like to see this team win the regionals," said Wallace, who qualified for the Group AA state tournament two years ago and missed out on a berth in a regional playoff last year.

Wallace said playing for a different coach each year has not adversely affected his play.

"Golf is pretty much an individual sport," he said. "You don't have to make plays and stuff [as a coach]."