MSU’s 2020 Perspective
Guest column by Casey Lubahn
MSU Men’s Golf Coach
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 uncomfortable, yet very necessary engagements. We are extremely proud of our team’s diversity and the ownership they have taken to understand, learn, and make a difference together.
Their work in the (virtual) classroom has been exemplary to this point and I believe our competitiveness will help us achieve another outstanding team GPA.
And lastly, all 11 student-athletes came to practice with a will to work. They brought with them passion, pride, and purpose; stronger than any semester that I can remember. In a situation where complaining was the easy way out, they found a way to be filled with joy and resolve when the alternatives were understandable.
While we haven’t been able to show our skills on the course yet this year, we have shown that our program is molding young men to be leaders in life, and I believe these last few months have been some of our best.
