Gamecocks ‘thankful to be playing golf’ after team van was involved in collision

South Carolina’s men’s golf team will tee off this weekend in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate tournament maybe a little shell-shocked and certainly “thankful to be playing golf” in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Odd emotions? Perhaps. But understandable.

After a solid team finish against a stout field and Nathan Franks’ winning the individual championship this past Sunday (March 17), they headed back to Columbia in high spirits.

“Trending in the right direction,” coach Bill McDonald said in summing up the performance in the Chris Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Georgia.

Meanwhile, the light-hearted debate in the team van centered where to make a refreshment stop: Dunkin’ or ice cream in Waynesboro, Georgia?

Then ... WHAM!

A driver in an SUV failed to yield while making a left turn at an intersection, according to a police report obtained by The State, and the Gamecocks’ van collided with the front left side of that vehicle. The impact pushed USC’s van into the front of another large trucked that was stopped at the stoplight, the police report says.

Associate head coach Brady Gregor, driving the van, said: “I hit the brakes and made a hard right (turn), but I couldn’t avoid the collision. It’s good I turned right; if I’d gone left, the van could have tipped” and rolled.

The crash cost Carolina the services of Franks, a junior who was playing the best golf of his career and had just won his second individual title in three spring tournaments. He suffered a hairline fracture in his right elbow and will be sidelined for at least a month, coaches said.

McDonald, a couple of miles ahead of the team van in his personal car, raced back to the scene after a call from Gregor.

“All he had time to tell me was, ‘We’ve been hit,’ ” McDonald said. “I got to the top of the hill and looked down (at the scene) ... that was not a good feeling. From what everyone said, Brady did a heckuva job veering to the right like he did.”

Although shaken, Gregor and the players “checked out fine” at the scene, but McDonald had everyone examined by medical personnel on Monday in Columbia. Tests revealed Franks’ injury.

“I hate it for everyone, especially Nate,” Gregor said. “I replay it in my mind and there’s nothing I could have done differently. I’ve driven a lot of miles in team vans through the years and this is the first time something like this has happened.”

McDonald, the Gamecocks’ coach since 2007, liked his team’s recent performances — 32-under par in its last two tournaments — and adopts the “next-man-up” philosophy to compensate for the loss of Franks. “We just need more consistency,” he said.

The Carolina lineup at Bulls Bay includes sophomore Frankie Harris, who won the individual title in the Daniel Island Intercollegiate in October, plus senior Rafe Reynolds, junior Laurens Schulze-Doering, sophomore Zach Adams and freshman Bo Carpenter. Junior Gene Zeigler will compete as an individual.

“We’re thankful to be playing golf,” Gregor said. “We know the accident could have been much worse.”