MAAC Golf Day !

[oldtimer1]

After day one our Golf Team is dead last by a lot of shots in the MAAC Championships @ Disney. Very upsetting and embarrassing. Embarrassing for both myself, former players/coaches like Nick Dilio and Chris Merce not to mention the entire Program. Don't get me wrong we do have 2/3 decent D1 players who can compete. The problem is the depleted Roster plus the failure to recruit anyone in the last several years. If someone wants to be a D1 Coach ( in any sport ) they have to do the recruiting work and, trust me, there are plenty of decent players, in golf, in the area who can/should be recruited. Take a look at our Roster and judge for yourself. Not just the quality of players but a very understaffed Roster. Hope we can field a team next year or we should just drop the sport.

Nothing to do with me, Chris or Nick but for several years in a row we were the Gold Standard of the MAAC Conference. Just look at us now ! Not blaming the players. As stated we have 2/3 pretty good players ( and the others still try ) but no help what so ever in the makeup of the overall Roster. We have another new Coach since last September ( #3 ) but he needs to go to work and recruit hard. We have plenty of Scholarship money, perhaps more than most other MAAC schools ( I know that for a fact ). All it takes is hard work. As I said embarassing and it doesn't have to be.

PS I've nominated Nick Dilio for the SP Hall of Fame. He is a no brainer and deserves it not only for his MAAC records set but for winning 3 Professional Tournaments in the Northeast area in the past few years.. He's back in Florida, again, and has been hired as Head Professional for a new course, under construction, in the prestigious Hobe Sound area in Palm Beach County.

[latigo]

Coach OT, nice to hear from you. I would like to hear your opinion about NIL and non rev sports. Golf and tennis, track. I realize that non rev sports have scholarships (my brother in law in tennis) but do you think there is a place for NIL in those sports? And if so, do you think the smaller schools will drop those programs?

[oldtimer1]

Latino....nice to hear from you also. In response, I'm trying to stay away from the. NIL and Portal issues except to agree that it's ruining college sports. I share the frustration of our loyal fans on what has been posted. Will it affect the "minor" sports ?...probably at some point as most collegiate golfers who have some ability/potential would be looking to "move up" to major Programs. This has been done for years and some MAAC players have transferred "down South" in those hopes. The saving grace, however, for the "smaller schools" is that there are so many good players out there that any transfers leaving should not impact any overall Team.

Such was the point of my above post. At SP we never just didn't take "anyone"to fill out a Roster. In our area, there is a pretty big pool of high school golfers to choose from. I told them that thru 4 yrs. in our Program that they could (and did) outperform the so called high school superstars....and they did! Several of my players, after 4 yrs. of hard work were as good as anyone in the country. Several have now become Golf Professionals at a very high levels and participate in Local and Regional events. Golf success has really helped all in finding extremely well paying jobs as well as staying in the business.

What frustrates me is about the falloff at SP in the last several years. Becoming a D1 College Golf Coach is much more than taking the Team to Tournaments. Maybe the salary may not be worth the time commitment but then why accept the job in the first place?..... No comment on the current Coach as he was only hired this past September but I'll be watching how and if he recruits between now and the Fall. I've found that there are plenty of good high school players out there if only the Coach makes the committment. So far, nothing to date.

[latigo]

Coach. Well said. I couldn't agree with you more. The recruiting, especially in your neck of the woods, has to be brutal. Every kid has been tutored from a very exclusive club and the recruiting has to be ruthless. From others posts here about you and the golf team, I salute you. Well wishes.

[dreamweaver]

old timer, you were a proponent of the new AD and have indicated you thought highly of her, so you have a relationship with her. Why not make a phone call to her and get a real lowdown on what the new coach is doing. You are the only one on this board who has the credibility to ask questions about that program. Maybe the new coach could use a little tutoring from someone with your credentials. That sounds like a better option than having the program sink into the abyss.

[oldtimer1]

dreamweaver.....thanks for the suggestion. As you know I've followed all your posts, especially on basketball, and I usually agree 100% with your observations.

With regard to your suggestion about Katie. Yes, Katie and I always had a good and mutual respected relationship. However, now that I am removed from my involvement with SP Athletics I am reluctant to interfere even with Katie. The last of my former recruits graduated last year and from hIs family I had a good fix on what was going on within the Program. In fact, with our previous AD and Coach I made the same offer that you suggested.....nothing happened !

Hate to sound like a cop-out but at my age etc. I'm sort of thru with this although I do follow the Program intently.. I've only spoken with Katie twice in the last few months, once to congratulate her on her appointment and a second to sort of help Nick regarding the Hall of Fame. Other than that I'm completely hands off. However, next time I speak with her ( probably this Summer ) I will indeed offer my help in terms of advice, as you suggested, if needed.

PS Noticed that Joe Quinlan, if my information is correct, a former AD at SP left a Columbia Univ. job to get a Major Donor Fundraising position at Caldwell Univ. Makes me wonder what fundraising Joe ever did at SP while our AD.....Just asking!

[latigo]

MAAC Championship on ESPN + currently. I wish ESPN would put the team logo or initials next to the player on the leaderboard. Seems pretty basic.