The Spire

Aiden Konold ’26

Staff Writer

The Holy Cross men’s golf team has great momentum as the offseason begins, fresh off a seventh place finish at the Veterans Intercollegiate Golf Tournament hosted by Bucknell. The Crusaders were led by junior Nolan Schuermann. All signs were pointing to a breakout performance after he hit his first career hole-in-one in a practice round on the twelfth hole at Sebonack Golf Club. Schuermann came out firing, carding an opening round 69 (-3). 

At the start of day two, Scheurmann was just two strokes off the lead. He managed to shoot a second round 77 (+5) in difficult conditions, leading to a fifth place finish, his first at the collegiate level. Holy Cross scores were rounded out by first-years Alex Elia, Ryan Scollins, and Thomas O’Neill, and sophomore Lars-Belvin Larsson. Elia finished in a tie for 17th, Scollins in a tie for 30th, O’Neill in a tie for 39th, and Larsson in a tie for 45th. 

At the beginning of the season, it was expected that the freshmen were going to play a key role on a team absent of seniors. Each of the freshmen had phenomenal summers, and they showed up to Mount Saint James ready to play, wasting no time transitioning to college golf. Elia started in each of Holy Cross’ five tournaments this fall, while Scollins and O’Neill started in all but one. Playing regularly in tournaments is a very impressive feat for the first-years, and it is a testament to their abilities as golfers. 

The Crusaders have performed well on the golf course throughout the fall, but the team’s most impressive feat is not quantifiable performances. Rather, it has been the team’s strong leadership culture after graduating three seniors this past spring. Even this year’s most senior members were underclassmen last year, and there was no way of knowing how a young team might respond to losing Christian Emmerich, Henry Horgan, and Juan Suau. 

The first decision Holy Cross director of golf Steve Napoli made prior to the start of the season was naming junior Owen Egan a team captain. Though only Egan is an official team captain, Schuermann, along with sophomores Larsson, Brian Glennon, Ben Snyder, and Matt Williams each served as team captains of their high school teams, and junior Grant Passi was a recipient of the Student Ambassador award in high school. Each of the three first-years on this year’s roster were team captains of their high school teams. 

This speaks dividends to how Napoli goes about the recruiting process. Recruiting great golfers is important, but Napoli knows that the most important thing is building a culture that people want to be a part of, and that starts with bringing in great leaders. 

The Holy Cross Jesuit motto of “men and women for and with others” extends far beyond the classroom, and onto the golf course. Napoli cannot just plug any good high school golfer into the Holy Cross golf program. It takes a leader focused on uplifting and elevating those around them. 

Through regular participation in tournaments and building relationships with more experienced members of the team, this year’s first-years have gained great experience in learning how to remain mentally resilient on and off of the course, and how to lead. These lessons serve the team well in the present moment, but even more so in the future when this year’s first-years will take on an increased leadership role.

In a game of uncertainties, one thing is for certain: no matter how the Holy Cross men’s golf team may perform on the course come the spring, the team’s strong culture of leadership is here to stay.

Featured image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics.