Although the collegiate career of Chris Wisler may be coming to a close, the future is very bright for one of the best golfers in the history of ETSU’s golf program.
With five tournaments remaining in his collegiate career, Wisler will be looking to help his team capture another Southern Conference championship and make it back to the NCAA Championships.
“Since we’re getting close to regionals and nationals we’d like to start playing well as a team,” Wisler said. “We’ve been playing well the last couple of tournaments.”
“We want to peak at the right time, at the end of the year when the big tournaments are,” he said. “And it’s the same thing individually, you want to make sure you peak at the right time.”
Although Wisler has been to the NCAA Championships the past two seasons, earning All-American honors both times, the Bucs unfortunately did not make it as a team last season.
“There are 25 teams in each regional and the top 10 teams make nationals,” Wisler said. “There are three regions and 30 teams make it.”
With the experience he has gained from the past two national championships, Wisler will look to put the final marks on a career that has included many great performances.
As a sophomore, Wisler finished eighth at the national championships for what he said was the first tournament in which he rose to the occasion.
“At nationals my sophomore year, it was the first tournament in which I really stepped up and played well in a large tournament,” Wisler said.
Wisler returned to the NCAA championships his junior season and went into the final round tied for third place after shooting 67, 68, 68, throughout the first three rounds.
Wisler, however, only shot an 81 on the final round to finish tied for 24th, but his performance was still good enough to earn All-American honors for the second consecutive season.
That performance has served as motivation for this season.
“It was a good experience being near the top towards the end of the tournament,” he said. “I feel like I learned something (and) I’d like to go back there and make a better showing.”
Wisler, who is majoring in human resources management in ETSU’s College of Business, plans to graduate in December 2001, but another huge event for the Buccaneer senior will come before that.
“Most likely I’ll turn professional at the end of the summer,” he said.
“Then after I graduate I’ll try the tour school which is the following October . to get my PGA card.”
To reach that next stage in his golf career, Wisler will look to improve on his short game, including putting which is what sets apart most professional golfers.
“The short game (is something I will have to work on); it’s huge out there,” he said. “That’s what makes the difference between a lot of players.”
“Everyone can hit it pretty good out there,” he said. “It’s who makes more putts and gets it on the green.”
This summer he plans to improve his game and will compete in several tournaments, including the Northeast Amateur in Rhode Island, the Western Amateur in Michigan and the Porter Cup in, New York. His next appearance is in the SoCon Championships this weekend.

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