For Frank Fuhrer, being compared to a bulldog was a compliment. Scrappiness, leadership and tenacity are all qualities that helped Fuhrer earn his nickname, "The Little Bulldog," and put Carolina golf on the map.
"I was not very big," said Fuhrer in an e-mail, "but I was a tenacious competitor who wanted to win as much as anybody."
Fuhrer always grinded out the best score he could, even on his bad days, said All-America teammate John Spelman. No one quit because they knew Fuhrer was giving his all. If a player had to make a clutch shot, Fuhrer would.
At 5-foot-8, 170 pounds, Fuhrer's physical stature was atypical of a successful golfer, yet everything he lacked mechanically he made up for with attitude. He was stocky and very physically strong, and he loved to fight for the team.
"He was the toughest competitor of all my teammates," said All-ACC teammate John McGough. "He really was a bulldog. His father used to tell us, 'You've got to learn to hate that ball into the hole,' talking about the three-footers. Frank was able to hate the ball in the hole."
In 1977, Devon Brouse, in his first year as UNC coach, signed Fuhrer as his first recruit. Brouse said Fuhrer helped rekindle and restart the program. Wake Forest had dominated the ACC for years, but Fuhrer's addition to North Carolina ushered in an era of change.
Fuhrer struggled as a freshman, however.
"I knew only one student among 20,000 my first week at Carolina," Fuhrer said. "I had trouble adjusting to missing five to six weeks of class the spring semester and being on my own, yet I developed a close relationship with four or five team members early my freshman year. We became a tight-knit group through playing together as a team."
Two-time co-captain Kevin King said that Fuhrer was very streaky as a freshman. But once King and fellow captain McGough left, Fuhrer became a leader.
