By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA – The No. 14 USF men's golf team has added two instant impact players to its roster for the 2014-15 season.
JUCO national individual champion Aksel Olsen and top-25 recruit Claudio Correa have signed with USF and head coach Chris Malloy expects both of his new Bulls to compete at a high level right away.
“A big part of building the program to where it is has been adding guys that can come in and play immediately,” Malloy said. “I look forward to us getting better and deeper next year, especially with hosting the NCAA Championships in 2015. I think these two additions will help us compete for that title.”
Olsen, a sophomore at Wallace State in Alabama, became the NJCAA individual champion earlier this year. The Stavanger, Norway native has earned spots on the NJCAA All-America First Team, the NJCAA All-Freshman Team and the all-conference team in 2013.
Outside of collegiate competition, Olsen finished second at the Norwegian Men's National Championship and got a call up from Norwegian national team after winning the Under-21 Rudersdal Open in Denmark. Olsen represented his country before college at the World Boys Team Championships in Japan in 2009.
“He's progressed the way that we thought he would over the last year and a half in junior college,” Malloy said. “He's a guy that will come in and not miss a beat. He's as good as anyone else that we have.”
Correa, from IMG Academy, is currently rated as the No. 29 class of 2014 recruit by Golfweek after he placed third at the Doral/Publix Junior Classic and won on the IMG Junior Tour in February. Correa finished ninth at Callaway Junior World Championships on July 19 and followed that up with a seventh place finish at the AJGA – Burgett H Mooney Jr. Rome Classic and a fourth place finish at the HJGT Southwest Junior Open.
Correa previously made an impact on the world stage in 2012, when we won all but one of his matches in the Chilean national team's victory at the Copa Los Andes in Venezuela.
“Claudio's upside is as good as anybody's in the entire country,” said Malloy of his 6-foot-1 signee. “He's big, strong and athletic, and he has proven he can beat some of the best players in the world.
