Just days after the MCLA Men’s Golf Team became MASCAC runner-up for the second straight time, the MASCAC released their all-conference awards. The Trailblazers are set to bring home quite a few awards this year.
This past week, for the second year in a row, Mat Gover ’27 was named winner of the the Player of the Year award and selected for the All-Conference First-Team. Gover, a sophomore on MCLA’s golf team, was interviewed by the Beacon about his performance this year.
Gover addressed MCLA’s golf team as a whole first, emphasizing the strides forward the team has taken since last year. “This group continues to want to get better,” he said.
Gover also talked about some personal clarity he took away from this season.
“Mentally, I wasn’t in the right head space in the beginning part of the year, but towards conference, I got my mindset figured out to a point where I am now excited to see how our last tournament plays out,” said Gover.
Gover is not just a golfer here at MCLA, but like many of the men on the team, he is a part of the MCLA Men’s Ice Hockey team, as well.
During the interview, he was asked whether he approached golf and hockey with the same or differing mindsets. He noted that while hockey and golf differ, they also have similarities. Both require a lot more mental strength than physical. “Hockey, you’re locked in from the night before to the last buzzer. Golf, there is a lot more downtime, and it can be a war within yourself,” he said. “I would be locked in every shot, but in between shots on the walk up I would try to keep light and easy.”
Gover highlighted the saying that helped him lift his second straight MASCAC title: “Trust yourself.” According to him, following that phrase “helped give [him] the ability to swing freely and hit the shot at hand.”
Gover also mentioned just how unreal it felt to win the MASCAC for a second straight time, earning back-to-back titles. “It is humbling to have my hard work be shown with those results,” he said.
During the MASCAC tournament, Gover shot a pair of 71s (-2 144) to help him win, narrowly beating out Salem State’s Daniel DiLisio (Swampscott, MA), who finished with a +1 147.
Paul Roeder, a fellow MCLA golfer and a fifth-year graduate student, placed eighth during the MASCAC golf championship at the Ranch Golf Club, in Southwick, MA, earning him a place on the All-Conference Second Team for MASCAC.
During this year’s MASCAC Awards, the MCLA Men’s Golf, Coach Jeremiah Ketts, was awarded Coach of the Year. In an interview with the Beacon, Coach Ketts noted the difference between last year’s team and this year’s team. “Experience played a key role in the team’s success this year,” he said. “As well as the strength of our schedule leading up to the championship it helped us as a team to put in hard work so when we got to conference play, we would be able to succeed in every way.”
When asked what helped him win Coach of the Year, Coach Ketts says while the award was voted on by other coaches, ultimately it reflects the qualities of his team: honesty, trustworthiness, and hard work.
Coach Ketts spoke with pride about how much fellow coaches in the MASCAC enjoyed having the team around, because of the way the Trailblazers handled themselves during matches. Ketts enforced disciplined policies on his golfers, which helped them showcase what being an MCLA athlete is all about.
The MCLA Men’s Golf Team heads to the NEIGA Championship in Brewster, MA on October 19th and 20th.
