Michigan Golf Journal January 2021

College Corner Despite the challenges the Covid-19 pandemic has brought on, we have much to be grateful for in 2020. It may sound strange, but the last few months may have been some of the most enjoyable of my career as a coach. Since our first practice on September 10th, we have had to work differently than ever before. Often in collegiate golf, we are far too focused on being ready for the next event that we rarely have time to focus on the substantive changes that can produce career-changing gains. The constant need to post a score at the next event often leads to smaller, incremental growth as opposed to making big gains in player development. The absence of outside competition this fall allowed us to focus on these bigger structural changes. To spend eight weeks tackling mechanical deficits (that all of us golfers have) greatly improved us individually, and as a team. As coaches, we noticed this development most during our last round of internal competition in late October. In challenging weather conditions at the Country Club of Lansing, our last round of qualifying was the lowest we have recorded in a decade. Off the course, we navigated the COVID-19 pandemic without incident. We made it through numerous rounds of surveillance testing spanning the entire semester without a positive test. This required a level of personal sacrifice and discipline every day by every student-athlete. I am very proud of their willingness to sacrifice for themselves and for each other to help slow the spread of the virus. We tackled some difficult conversations on social injustice and racial equality and saw growth and leadership flourish out of these discussions. We will continue to grow together as a result of these College Corner: Coaching During Covid MSU’s 2020 Perspective Guest column by Casey Lubahn MSU Men’s Golf Coach Continues on next page >>