Men's Golf Counting on Returners to Take the Next Step
(Howell, MI)-- Cleary University's head men's golf coach, Trevor Spagnoletti is very excited to begin his second season as the head coach, and 6th season consecutively when you include his playing days, of the Cougar golf program.
"It's a strong group of guys. We only have one senior in Mike Kee. He's been a really strong force and the lowest scoring average out of the guys on the team. We're looking to him to be a leader, to help the younger guys on the team, especially our freshmen in Justin (Reddy) and Giuseppe (Cracchiolo). And we have quite a few sophomores that impressed me their freshman year. Cam (Thomas), Logan (Smith), and Dylan (Sokol) have all stepped their game up. It might have been nerves during (their) first year, but I know they learned a lot."
The team features only one senior in Mike Kee, who is expected to be an all-conference recipient, and a medalist contender in every tournament he participates in. "Mike Kee used to get down on himself because he had such high expectations. He has worked on that during the offseason, and we've seen a huge improvement from him already this season. I'd expect him to be all-conference this season, for sure. He won a couple of events last season, and hopefully he can win some more tournaments this year to go out with a bang during his senior year."
Coach Spagnoletti is trying to work on and help the team to compete at the highest level, and he sets up his practices to get the guys to compete against each other, but to spend time with each other to build a brotherhood that he feels is important for the team.
"We want each of our guys to compete for the spots in every tournament. Practices are set up to force the guys to compete. We mix the guys up so they can work on their camaraderie, but also to make sure they aren't comfortable or complacent." It's that sense of camaraderie that Coach Spagnoletti feels will be the most important factor on how his team performs this year.
This year is also special because it will be the first time that Cleary is hosting two fall tournaments in the same season, one on September 23 at Mystic Creek Golf Course in Milford, and the other on October 18 at Oak Pointe Country Club in Brighton. "We're super excited to host two home tournaments in the same fall. This gives everyone a chance to play, since we're only allowed to play 5 golfers at a time in any tournament. This way we can still compete at a high level, but also make sure that everyone gets that experience of playing in our tournaments."
One of the perks of playing golf at a high level is being able to play other golf courses you otherwise wouldn't get to play, and that brings a certain level of excitement to the team as well. "Besides our own courses, I think we're most excited about Kauffman Golf Course in Wyoming, and Sylvania Country Club in Ohio. Both feature a good test for each of the guys."
Cleary was picked to finish 8th out of 12 teams in the WHAC this year, with Lawrence Tech, Aquinas, and Madonna rounding out the top 3. But in a sport where the results actually show your level of improvement from round to round, there is something that Coach Spagnoletti wants his team to be known and recognized for, besides his team's playing ability: "We want the guys to have the best attitude, the best mindset, and be the best team player out there."
Cleary will open it's 2021 fall season at Kauffman Golf Course in Wyoming, Michigan on September 8.