Charlotte 49ers coaches forsake court, gridiron for the golf course -- for a day

Will Healy and Ron Sanchez stepped away from their usual duties with the Charlotte 49ers on Monday, playing in a Wells Fargo Championship pro-am at Quail Hollow Club.

“What a treat,” said Healy, Charlotte’s first-year football coach, a few minutes before teeing off. “Being inside the ropes at a golf course like this is going to be a different experience.”

Sanchez, who’s entering his second season as Charlotte’s men’s basketball coach, was just as enthusiastic.

“This is a great opportunity,” Sanchez said. “It’s nice to have this chance to play on a course like this, with lots of people around!”

Healy, who said he’s a 6 handicap, described himself as a “competitive scrambler” on the course.

“This is a different world, though,” he said, looking around Quail Hollow.

Healy and Sanchez are the new faces of the 49ers athletics program. Healy has yet to coach a game; Sanchez is entering is second season after the 49ers went 8-21 in his first year.

“This gives Will and I a chance to be together and get to know each other better,” said Sanchez, who said he’s “not” a golfer. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead, and this only helps.”

Sanchez’s caddie was Mike Hummer, executive director of the 49ers’ Athletic Foundation. Carter Crutchfield, the football program’s recruiting coordinator and director of football relations, was on Healy’s bag.

“I can’t wait to get out there and yell at Carter for giving me the wrong yardage,” Healy joked.

Quail Hollow notes

▪ Charlotte-native Davis Love III and Justin Thomas withdrew from the tournament. Thomas, who won the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, hasn’t played since finishing tied for 12th at the Masters and has had problems with an arm injury. He hurt his arm when his club hit a tree during a recent tournament. Love withdrew due to personal reasons.

▪ Charlotte resident Matthew Goggin was among four players to qualify for the Wells Fargo Championship during Monday’s qualifying event at Gaston Country Club. Goggin was in a three-way tie for second with Matt Short of Hudson and Nathan Stamey of Bluffton, S.C., shooting a 2-under 68. Chip McDaniel of Manchester, Ky., won the event with a 65.

▪ Alvaro Ortiz, who was second-low amateur at the Masters, received a sponsor exemption for the Wells Fargo. Ortiz, who was the first Mexican to play at the Masters, turned pro after Augusta. Other sponsor exemptions went to John Senden, Jonathan Byrd, Tom Lovelady, Doc Redman, Broc Everett, Billy Hurley III and Brendon Todd. Byrd is an Anderson, S.C., native who played at Clemson, as did Redman, a Raleigh native. Everett won last season’s NCAA individual title at Augusta.

▪ Wednesday’s pro-am figures to draw a crowd. It includes former tennis star Andy Roddick, North Carolina football coach Mack Brown, Tar Heels basketball coach Roy Williams, Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen (with teammate Luke Kuechly serving as his caddie), recent Panthers draft pick Will Grier, Panthers coach Ron Rivera, former Panthers coach John Fox and NASCAR drivers Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Kyle Larson. Rivera’s wife, Stephanie, played in the Monday pro-am.

This story was originally published April 29, 2019 at 3:37 PM.