Marquette golf is out to create experiences
MILWAUKEE (BVM) — With only a week left before tryouts, there is a lot of excitement around Marquette golf.
“I think it’s going to be exciting,” Hilltoppers head coach Brad Niswonger said. “I’m interested to see what’s there.”
What’s there are two classes of golfers that Niswonger doesn’t know all that well. The last time the Hilltoppers were out competing, they were winning state for the second time in a row and third time in four years.
There was only one freshman, Hayden LeMonds, on that last state championship team back in 2019 and after the year off due to COVID, he is the only returning Hilltopper who Niswonger has seen compete in a big tournament.
“I don’t think any coach has a real good idea of what the season is going to look like because half the kids that will be in tryouts will be new to me,” Niswonger said.
However, Niswonger is taking it all in stride. Entering his 10th year as the Hilltoppers’ head coach, he is using the culture he and his players have built up over years of hard work to help with the process of bringing all the new faces into the program.
“The groups that are going to try out, they know the history and they have that little extra element of trying to represent what was there before,” Niswonger said.
They will get their chance right away as Marqutte will have its first tournament the day after tryouts end at Blackwolf Run Golf Course.
“We’re going to find out really fast some of the best teams in the state and we’ll see where we stack up,” Niswonger said.
It’s trial by fire, but for a team that has become accustomed to deep runs into the postseason, it’ll be important for Niswonger to see how this group of Hilltoppers handles adversity. With one less week in the season but the same amount of tournaments, it will be a race against time to make sure his team is ready to go each and every day.
“This year the challenge will be to try and make it the same with less time,” Niswonger said.
His approach is still the same, however, even if it’s sped up. Niswonger is a competitor and loves to compete but has never focused on winning. For him, it has always been about being out on the golf course with a bunch of kids that love golf as much as he does. It is about making the experience for those young men one that they remember all their lives in a positive way and by doing that he has found success.
“For me the number one goal has always been the experience,” Niswonger said. “Experiences produce special outcomes.”
There is no doubt the first season the Hilltoppers have had in almost two years will be an experience, and to everyone who has worked so hard to make this season happen, that in and of itself is a special outcome.
