Middlebury men’s golf continued its spring season with a 12th-place finish at the Dr Tim Brown Invitational, held in frigid Ballston Spa, NY, last weekend.
On Saturday, the Panthers struggled to a +30 clip, with a whopping seven doubles or worse, and only five birdies. Sunday brought with it warmer weather and warmer putters, as freshman standout Evan Fulgieri ’29 roared to an even par 71, and Charlie Schulman ’26 posted a respectable 4 over 75, helping the team to a +19 finish.
The Panthers had opened their spring slate on April 4 at the Bantams/Hawks Spring Invitation in Windsor Park, Conn., with a ninth-place finish. A manageable Keney Park Golf Course led to a strong scoring average for the Panthers over two rounds (73.875), while the victorious Hofstra golfers averaged three shots better, storming to a 70.875 over two days. Schulman paced the group, posting a 2-under 68 on Day Two en route to a tie for sixth place.
The Tim Brown Invitational fell in a similar bucket. An identical starting lineup, except with Lincoln Mackay ’29 instead of Jake Forrest ’29, faltered out of the gate. The Panthers were unable to get off the bogey train— “we struggled taking a bogey and not being able to reset on the next hole,” Nate Keshen ’28 said.
To find their form, the Panthers cannot rely on Schulman alone. They will need their starting lineup to coalesce and play two complete rounds of golf. The three freshmen - Fulgieri, Mackay, and Forrest - as well as Julian Galindo Macias ’27 (who was abroad in the fall) and Nate Keshen ’28 have all shown their potential to shoot in the low-to-mid 70s, but they must do so consistently both next weekend and at NESCACs to put pressure on blue-blood teams like Amherst and Bowdoin.
Though these past two weekends haven’t gone the Panthers’ way, they merely serve as warmups for the main event — the NESCAC championship. Hosted by Trinity College at Fox Hopyard Golf Club in Connecticut, regular season play is immaterial, as the weekend-long tournament determines Middlebury men's golf’s hopes and dreams.
One major complication for the Panthers’ NESCAC hopes has been the Keshen-dubbed “curse of Middlebury men’s golf”, with both Logan Wang ’27 (dislocated shoulder) and Brendan O’Holleran ’26 (broken finger) lost to injury. Wang helped spearhead the team’s best finish of the fall: shooting a fiery 2-under 69 on Day Two of the tournament to leapfrog into sixth place individually, and more importantly, to push the team into third place overall.
Without Wang, the underclassmen serve a critical role. “They have revolutionized our culture,” Captain Brendan O’Holleran ’26 said of Fulgieri, Mackay and Forrest in the fall. Keshen, the group’s appointed “glue guy,” started hot this weekend with a 1-under 34 on the front nine at Ballston Spa. The success of these four is the team's success.
However, golf is a fickle sport. New two-time Masters champion Rory McIlroy spent 15 years searching for his first green jacket before winning two in back-to-back fashion. For McIlroy, it took a mindset shift: remaining aggressive even while struggling through a seemingly insurmountable mental block at Augusta, GA. The doubt creeps in, but unlike other sports, golf’s turtle pace allows the uncertainty to fester.
Take a look at football, basketball, hockey — all sports where athleticism alone can often overcome most need for mental skills. Golf is unique. Every single Middlebury golfer has the talent and the swing needed to be great. They must unlock an enhanced level of mental competitiveness to succeed. Just three years ago, the Panthers posted a tied-seventh finish at the Dr Tim Brown Invitational and went on to win the NESCAC championship. They can do it again if the underclassmen expect to succeed.
Kanan Clifford '28.5 (he/him) is a Sports Editor.
Kanan is a probable Molecular Biology/Biochemistry major, with additional interests in history and politics. At Middlebury, he sails, is on the board of the South Asian Students Association, and is an avid baker!
