After concluding last year on a high note with a fifth-place Ivy League Championship finish, the men’s golf team looks to build on its past success this fall season.
The team will kick off this campaign having lost three players to graduation: Peter Callas ’14, Nelson Hargrove ’14 and Kyohei Itamura ’14. While the team will miss their presence, this year’s roster has an opportunity to rise to the occasion in keeping up the momentum.
“It’ll definitely be tough for us losing the seniors. (They) were consistent scoring members of the team, and some of us are certainly going to have to step up to pick up the slack,” said Jack Wilson ’16, one of only two upperclassmen on the team.
A couple of fresh faces will join the few established veterans for a total roster of six players. Kevin Li ’18 and Ben Warner ’18 join the squad already consisting of Wilson, Justin Miller ’15, Chad Carlson ’17 and Connor Lynch ’17.
While they lack collegiate experience, the first-years come onboard with decorated high school careers. Warner, from Weston, Massachusetts, finished his senior year off with the Division III North Sectional title, a seventh-place finish at states and boys’ golf athlete of the year honors from the Boston Globe. Li comes to Brown from St. George’s School in Vancouver, Canada.
“Since our team is so small this year, they’ll definitely be playing and have an impact on the team,” Wilson added.
Meanwhile, senior star Miller gives the young players a model for success, entering his final year as one of the top players in the league.
“Justin is our only senior this year, and he has historically been one of our top players,” Wilson said. “I think he’s been playing pretty well going into the season.”
As for Brown’s Ivy League competition, Wilson said it is difficult to provide an outlook before the season begins. Rosters fluctuate every year as players come and go, so evaluation will have to wait until a few tournaments play out, he added.
“It’s sort of hard to tell where we are in terms of other teams,” Wilson said. “We finished middle of the pack at Ivies last year, so hopefully we can build off that and get better.”
Bruno hopes to kick off its season on the right foot with a strong outing this weekend. The Bears’ campaign begins at the par-71 Naval Academy Golf Course in Annapolis, Maryland, where they compete against nine other teams in the Navy Invitational. This two-day tournament is slated to have 18 holes on each day.
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