Brendan Grudberg ’28
Staff Writer
The Holy Cross Men’s Golf team finished off its incredible season on Sunday, finishing a program-best second place in the Patriot League team championships (850; +10), only one stroke behind the champions, Loyola Maryland. Holy Cross entered the final day at Bucknell Golf Club tied for second with Loyola Maryland, with Army sitting in first place before a day three collapse that allowed the Greyhounds and the Crusaders to leapfrog them and finish in first and second, respectively.
Although the Crusaders fell just short of the team championship, they still had lots to celebrate following the conclusion of the championship round. Senior captain Nolan Schuermann became just the second Crusader ever to win the individual championship in the Patriot League final round, punching a ticket to compete at the NCAA regionals from May 12-14.
“I’ve worked really hard throughout my four years here, and I haven’t won a college tournament,” Schuermann says, moments before taking off for a photo shoot. “Even after the first drive on the playoff hole, I was in a really good position, and I was trying to not get my head to that place after the round. I was trying to stay present because I knew the job wasn’t finished. But it was an unbelievable feeling. A lot of emotion for myself, my parents, [and] my teammates were so happy for me, too, which was awesome… It’s really cool to be a part of [being the second Crusader to ever win the Patriot League individual championship].”
Down the stretch, with a Patriot League individual title on the line, Schuermann never allowed himself to get too ahead of the moment. Instead, he focused on each step ahead of him.
“I found the playoff to be very peaceful! Nolan was in control right from the start after his tee shot on the first playoff hole,” Napoli says. “He’s worked very hard for the past four years and to see him win and gain a spot in the NCAA Regionals is well deserved. A very little known fact is that in Nolan’s last tournament leading up to the Patriot League Championship he finished in last place. To recapture his game so quickly and go from last to first on the biggest stage of the year is an exceptional accomplishment.”
Holy Cross assistant coach Kyle Gallo walked with Schuermann for the last several holes of the tournament to keep him in the right headspace, and help him manage the golf course.
“I’ve been in contention after the first day or two in tournaments before, and I haven’t been able to close the job in the past,” Schuermann says. “So just staying present in the moment and not thinking [about] the end, just focusing on each individual shot was huge.”
Schuermann, who earned First Team All-League honors, was one of two Crusader golfers to be named to an All-League team, as Sophomore Ryan Scollins secured an All-Patriot second team selection with his 8th place finish individually. Scollins also etched his own name in the history books this past weekend, as his second round score of 66 (-4) tied the school record for a single round. Both Schuermann (3; ‘23-’25) and Scollins (2; ‘24-’25) now have multiple All-Patriot League selections under their belt.
With an outstanding season on both the individual and team levels, the Crusaders were rewarded with a penultimate prize, as head coach Steve Napoli took home Patriot League Coach of the Year honors. Napoli is in his ninth year leading the men’s program, and fourth leading the women’s, and his dedication in improving the Crusaders’ men’s golf program over his tenure was rewarded on Sunday. Napoli adds this honor to his long list of accomplishments throughout his coaching career, his most recent award being a New England Coach of the Year award in 2020 with Holy Cross.
“Honestly, being named Coach of the Year is really not overly important to me individually,” Napoli says. “It is a nice honor to be recognized by your peers, but I’m much happier to see our team finish in second place considering that no Holy Cross golf team had ever finished higher than fourth place in the Patriot League. The overall success of the team and their development as an individual athlete is far more important to me in the grand scheme of things.”
Looking ahead to the future, while the Crusaders will lose starters Nolan Schuermann and Owen Egan to graduation, the rest of their championship starting lineup will return, all as Juniors or younger. Ryan Scollins headlines the group of underclassmen, having two All-Patriot selections under his belt through two years of collegiate play.
In addition, sophomores Thomas O’Neill and Alex Elia, and freshman James O’Connor all return to the lineup after top-30 finishes in Sunday’s championship. Although Schuermann’s exit will especially hurt for the Crusaders, the future for their team as a whole looks extremely promising with budding young stars across the lineup.
”[A couple of weeks ago] a lot of things started to click, especially for our younger guys,” Schuermann says. “Thomas and Alex really had some great rounds, and they were really catching fire. So it was good to see the team start to play really well at once.”
In the Patriot League Tournament, Scollins shot a 66 (-4) in round two this past Saturday, which tied the Holy Cross all-time low round. That same day, freshman James O’Connor shot a 69 (-1).
Sunday marked a historic day for Holy Cross men’s golf, a showcase of Coach Napoli’s dedication in improving the Crusaders’ golf programs.
“He really balances the role of being active, and sometimes taking a step back really well,” Schuermann says of his head coach. “And he knows that all of our guys are capable of getting better, identifying weaknesses in their game, but when he feels he needs to step in, he does. So I think, especially on the golf course, he managed that really well, letting people play their game, knowing when people were comfortable [and] maybe when they needed some help.”
Schuermann will go down as one of the greatest golfers in Crusader history, and looks to add to the Crusaders’ successful season by himself at the Regional tournament, May 12-14.
As for the rest of the team, they’ve got plenty of young talent and time to improve this summer and build past this historic season starting next fall.
“Part of it is trying to leave the program in a better spot than how we found it, and I think that can be seen alone by this year, we finished the highest we ever have as a team in program history,” Schuermann responds when asked how he, alongside fellow seniors Grant Passi and Owen Egan, has tried to set up the program for long term success even after he graduates. “Up until this year, the highest we finished was fourth place, and this year we finished runner up, only one shot back of first place. It’s really tough to be that close and not get it, but it’s also a lot to be proud of. To bring home some hardware back to campus is cool. Leaving the program in a better place than we found it, I think that us three [Passi, Egan, and Schuermann] have done a great job [with] that.”
Featured image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics
Web Edited by Zexuan Qu ’28
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