The St. Joe’s golf team has great potential with a number of new players on the team, according to junior JT Spina.
“We have a bunch of new guys that are just starting to get their feet wet in college competition,” Spina said. “This was kind of a new experience.”
The Hawks began their season with a 15th place finish at the Golden Horseshoe Intercollegiate, and then rebounded in their second outing, finishing tied for fourth place at Rolling Green Intercollegiate. They finished fourth out of four teams in their most recent event at the Temple Spring Invite.
Spina said that while the Hawks didn’t get off to the start they were looking for, he has hope for the season moving forward as the new players gain experience.
Head Coach Bob Lynch said it was hard to know exactly what to expect from his team after going a full year without competition.
“We struggled a little bit, but I figured it was the first tournament out of the gate,” Lynch said. “We didn’t play in the fall, so we played kind of freely. I didn’t really know what to expect.”
According to Lynch, his team played better in their second tournament led by inexperienced players who have had to quickly acclimate to collegiate golf.
Senior Wills Montgomery said the team is just enjoying the fact that they are competing again.
“We are still able to go into Hagan and lift so I think we have definitely built a good team bond just lifting and getting to practice and play again,” Montgomery said.
According to Lynch, his team has suffered some setbacks as of late. They only had four players competing at the Temple Spring Invite.
“Between a couple of injuries and a couple of COVID situations we are down to the skeleton,” Lynch said. “The four guys that are eligible are working hard.”
Spina said the message that is being reiterated to the entire team is to keep getting better every day, and to control what they can.
“There’s been a lot of things that were obviously affected by COVID,” Spina said. “Some things are out of your hands.”
Looking ahead, Montgomery said he hopes that the team can start to pick up momentum heading towards the Atlantic 10 (A-10) Championships at the end of April.
Spina said the team’s remaining tournaments are all in preparation for the approaching A-10 Championship.
“Right now I would say we’re just really working to bring our best stuff for A-10 and prepare for that and come home with victory there,” Spina said.
Lynch said he hopes to have his team back to full strength before the A-10 Championships, as it is important to their overall success in the tournament.
“Wills Montgomery and JT Spina will have been there before so they know what to expect,” Lynch said. “But you never know, freshmen can react differently.”
According to Spina, the team wants to win their coach his first ever A-10 Championship.
“[Coach Lynch] has been here for 32 years and he’s never won an Atlantic 10 Championship,” Spina said. “We want to be known as a group of guys that brought him his first.”
