Aiden Konold ’26

Staff Writer

 Heading into this past weekend’s Patriot League Men’s Golf Championship, the Holy Cross men’s golf team had high expectations for itself. With Christian Emmerich ‘23 and Juan Suau ’23 each playing in their final seasons as Crusaders, the team was hoping to make one final splash before they graduate this spring. 

     There was a lot of splashing this past weekend at Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix, MD, where Loyola University of Maryland hosted the Patriot League Men’s Golf Championship. Unfortunately, the splashing was more a result of the constant rain that the golfers were forced to deal with all weekend long. It drizzled all weekend, with temperatures dipping into the high 40s. As a result of the poor weather conditions, play was ultimately suspended on Sunday morning and resuming later in the afternoon. 

     The Holy Cross men’s golf team was forced to play in difficult weather conditions all season long given its position in the Northeast. As Christian Emmerich explained of the weather Crusader golfers are forced to play in all season, “Usually we play when it’s cold. About 50% of the days we play, it doesn’t reach above 45 degrees.” Despite Holy Cross’ familiarity playing in poor weather conditions, the weather they experienced this past weekend was of a different breed. Steve Napoli, the Director of Golf at Holy Cross, said of his squad, “Our team was resilient and played well in terrible weather conditions for golf.” 

     Hillendale Country Club is a difficult course made even more difficult by poor weather conditions. Despite not finishing where they may have liked, Holy Cross finished in the top half of the Patriot League at fourth place and managed well given the conditions, a feat of which Napoli is very proud. Holy Cross’ fourth place finish is its best in the Patriot League Men’s Golf Championship since 1998. As Napoli said following the Crusaders’ finish this past weekend, “This was a total team effort, we received key contributions from everyone in the lineup.” Nolan Schuermann ’25 led Holy Cross all weekend, shooting +13 with rounds of 78 , 73, and 78. Schuermann’s efforts yielded him All-Patriot League Second Team honors, the only Holy Cross player to do so. In both the Roar-EE and Shark Invitational Tournaments, Schuermann finished in Holy Cross’ top four. 

     The younger players on the Holy Cross men’s golf team have been key to the team’s success all season long, especially at the Patriot League Championship this past weekend. Along with Schuermann, Brian Glennon ’26, Matthew Williams ’26, and Emmerich rounded out Holy Cross’ top 4. Glennon and Williams both shot 230 (+14) over the weekend, tying for twelfth place. In round 2, Glennon shot a 69 for the Crusaders’ only under par round of the weekend. Emmerich, who shot a 232 (+16) and tied for eighteenth place in the Championship, showed resilience all weekend long. He broke 80 in each of his three rounds, with scores of 78, 79 , and 75. Schuermann and Emmerich were the only Holy Cross golfers to break 80 in each of their three rounds over the weekend, a great feat given the exceptionally poor conditions of Hillendale Country Club. Holy Cross’ great perseverance this weekend added a significant improvement from its sixth place finish in last season’s Patriot League Men’s Golf Championship. 

     Juan Suau, the sixth golfer for Holy Cross this past weekend, struggled in round 1, shooting an 88, though he came out with a vengeance in the next two rounds, shooting a 74in the second round and a 79 in the third round. Suau, an Economics major from Puerto Rico, has displayed resilience throughout his time at Holy Cross, and this weekend was no different. Suau, who averaged a team best 77.1 strokes per round as a sophomore, is an exceptional golfer in his own right, though he is an even greater leader and role model, especially to the younger players on the team. Suau’s leadership was critical this past weekend, and his perseverance seemed to rub off on the younger players. 

     Despite some of the struggles the Holy Cross men’s golf team faced in this past weekend’s Patriot League Championship, Steve Napoli remains very proud of what his team has been able to accomplish this season. A fourth place finish remains a great accomplishment even though Holy Cross happened to have higher expectations. Napoli said of his seniors, “Christian Emmerich and Juan Suau graduate in a few weeks and I’ll be forever grateful to Christian for carrying the team throughout his career at Holy Cross and to Juan for the great rounds of golf he played when we needed him the most.” As Holy Cross men’s golf fans, we owe a debt of gratitude to Emmerich and Suau for their great contributions over the past few years and their efforts in cultivating the next generation of Holy Cross golfers. They have left the Holy Cross men’s golf program in great hands, and for that, we should be forever grateful. I wish Emmerich and Suau the best in their future endeavors, and cannot wait to see what is yet to come for Holy Cross men’s golf. 

The Spire would like to thank
Christian Emmerich’ 23 for his numerous contributions
to articles this year. We
wish him the best of luck with
whatever comes next!