For Immediate Release
September 29, 2011
Courtesy of the Danvers Herald, Written by Joe McConnell
Danvers, Mass. — With the continued success of the Danvers High School golf program, Matt Michel, one of its distinguished graduates, has taken his game to the collegiate level, and playing quite well as a junior on the Bentley University squad, recently being chosen Northeast-10 Player of the Week.
The Northeast-10 Championships is this weekend at Boylston, and his Falcon teammates are all unified to bring home that ultimate prize. But between practice rounds earlier this week, Michel took time out to pen his thoughts on his past, present and future in and out of the sport for the Danvers Herald earlier this week.
It's been quite the junior year for you at Bentley, most recently topping it off with Northeast-10 Player of the Week honors, how would you descibe the season to date both individually and as a team?
It has been quite the start to the year. Already we have won a tournament, which we never have in my first two years, and have two team scores — 299 at Pinehaven in Week 1 and in our most recent round 297 at the Long Island National that were better than any day we had all of last year.
Our team goal is always to break 300, and to do it twice in six rounds gives us a lot of confidence going forward.
Individually, I am very pleased with my start, and that I've been able to help the team go low. Being named to the Academic All-Conference team last spring was a real confidence boost for me, and I wanted to build on that this fall.
The Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week was a personal goal that I have had since I was named Freshman of the Week back in 2009, and to accomplish that was great. I worked very hard this summer on my short game, and it has really carried me so far, because up until this weekend I have not hit the ball very well.
The NE-10 championship match is this weekend in Boylston, what are the goals going into it for you and the team?
The NE-10s is the tournament that we circle on the calendar every year. We were in great position to win last year, we were right around the lead through 27 holes, but we didn't finish it off.
We have a lot of guys on the team this year, including Richie Powers, Nick Clarke and Grant Alter who were playing that day and know we need to do better.
Winning the conference championship is everybody's No. 1 goal this year, and it would give us an automatic bid to the NCAA super-regionals. This weekend is crucial for us, and we have the mindset that it's all about getting the win this week. Cyprian is a difficult course, but I think it fits our team well, and we can bring home another trophy.
What were some of the adjustments that you had to make going from high school to college three years ago?
The biggest adjustment was playing new courses in the hardest conditions I had ever had to deal with.
Some of the weather that college golf is played in is mind-boggling. Last year at Meadow Creek in Lowell, the wind was blowing over 35 MPH both days and the temperature never got above 40 or 50.
I saw some bad weather in state finals in high school, but nothing like this. The travel is also a big adjustment, staying over and balancing a full course load requires a lot of time management.
The new courses pose a problem, because with traveling around class sometimes we only play nine holes in our practice round and go in blind for the other nine. That was the case at Timberlin CC a few weeks ago. I had not seen the back nine until I was on the 10th tee in the tournament.
Our coach, Mickey Herron, is amazing. He scouts pin locations and holes we haven't seen, and figures out yardages for par 3s better than anyone I have ever seen. He really makes it easy for us to just go out and play.
In your development as a collegiate golfer, what are your plans to continue to play the sport beyond next year?
Beyond my senior year, I see myself still playing golf as much as my — fingers crossed — job allows me to. I would love to play in big amateur tournaments after I graduate, and still play competitively.
There's no feeling like stepping up to the first tee knowing you have your game together, and can go low and shoot a good number that day.
As you might be aware, your former Danvers High School team is once again doing quite well in the Northeastern Conference. They started winning conference titles, while you were there, so in your opinion what's the secret of their success?
DHS has had quite a run. I was very fortunate to walk into the situation I did as a freshman there.
Senior John McGinley and then Captain Eric Suther really took care of me. Any success I have in golf has a great deal to do with them.
John caddied for me in a few tournaments this summer, and we talked after almost every round I played.
In my opinion, a lot of the DHS success has to be from a steady flow of good athletes. Every year you see kids on the team that play other varsity sports.
How and when did you get involved in golf?
I got involved with golf relatively late around 12-14 years old. Baseball and basketball were my first two sports, and I just fell into golf.
On my Little League Williamsport team, there were four or five of us, who played when we had off days from practice and games. My dad started playing around the same time as I did, and we have picked the game up together over the years.
Who influenced your decision to pick up the sport?
My parents have always been hugely supportive of anything I got involved in, and like I said as soon as I showed an interest in the game my dad started playing too. My mom would always bring me to the range to hit balls too.
While coach Herron did not help me get into the sport, he has had a tremendous impact on my game. He has helped me overcome a lot in the year that I have played for him, and really helped to shape my game.
What attracted you to the sport, and what are some of its qualities that you were able to develop a passion for it?
I'm not entirely sure what exactly drew me to golf, but like many in my generation it definitely helped seeing Tiger Woods on TV every weekend.
I love competition the most, and the camaraderie that goes with being on a golf team. While it is an individual sport, but when we're on the course, we win and lose as a team.
Traveling with the team and helping each other with our games is great. I have been blessed with great team chemistry in high school and college, and I think that speaks volumes to why we have been successful.
My favorite thing about golf as a sport is that you can always get better. You never, or at least I have never, walked off a course and said to myself that it was as low a number as I possibly could have shot.
Being able to get better every day at practice is a mindset that I have embodied for a while, and I really think it has helped me to be mentally tough on the course.
