On The Fringe

After four top 10 finishes during the fall season, junior Matthew Naumec has certainly found his rhythm on the golf course. The Wilbraham, Mass. native tied for eighth place at the Turning Stone Tiger Intercollegiate, tied for sixth place at the Hartford Hawks Invitational and the Tar Heel Intercollegiate and finished the fall season tied for fourth place at the Autotrader Collegiate Classic. In all, he has had a break-through fall for the Eagles.

Amidst his success on the golf course, Naumec has also stepped up as a captain for his teammates in a leadership role that head coach Drew Kayser finds very fitting for Naumec. "Matt is a true inspiration to his teammates," Kayser said. "Statistically, he leads the team in the categories of scoring, greens in regulation, scrambling and putting. Matt's extraordinarily high golf IQ, coupled with his leadership qualities, make him an outstanding captain."

Naumec has built upon his strong sophomore year and is continually improving. Last season, Naumec achieved the historical low stroke average for Boston College men's golf and improved upon that this fall season, lowering his average to 71.17.

"I finished up last season and a couple things clicked for me," Naumec explained. "I had a couple good finishes, had my first two wins last year, which was a big confidence boost for me. It gave me a lot of competitive spirit and helped me realize that I can win."

With this renewed sense of confidence, Naumec brings a positive and competitive outlook to every tournament. "It took realizing that I have a chance to win these things, not just be competitive in them," Naumec said. "So now I have a more aggressive outlook going into some of these bigger tournaments, not worrying about who you're playing and just going out and playing your game."

Naumec knows that the time and effort he invested over the summer is paying off now. "In the summer, I have a great place at home that I use called Greathorse that has a lot of great facilities," Naumec explained.

The junior also had the opportunity to compete in the USGA Four Ball, which is the national format of golf where everyone plays with a partner. Both partners play and then the best score of the two is used. "My partner and I went down to the National Championships in North Carolina and made it to the Sweet Sixteen which was really fun," Naumec said. "I played in some really big tournaments that drew a lot of good competition from across the country, so I think seeing better people play helped me a little bit. You have to know where you stand and learn what you can, so I just try to always keep a perspective on where I am in the game."

Gaining this new perspective on the game certainly helped Naumec have a stronger mindset moving forward as he had the opportunity to learn from the golfers around him. "It's a game that what you put in, you get out," Naumec said. "Just a lot of hard work. It's nice to actually find your game and play well. Small things, but mostly believing in myself and not worrying about my misses."

From a technical standpoint, Naumec has found practicing efficiently to be helpful to his success. "I used to just go out and hit balls," Naumec said. "Once I started playing well, I started to analyze my stats and my data on that round and realizing where my weaknesses are from statistics. So I continue to do that through driving accuracy."

The support of his family throughout has only helped Naumec throughout the season. "They came out to Hartford and New York, so they saw two out of our four tournaments," Naumec said. My grandparents come and watch me in the summer a lot, so that's nice."

Naumec's eight teammates also play an important role in making the experience all the more worthwhile. "We're a really close team," Naumec explained. "We see each other every day and we know everything about each other. I think having a family atmosphere on the golf team is really helpful."

Using the support of his family and teammates, Naumec plans to ride the momentum of his success into the spring season. His goals include breaking his own scoring record and trying to earn as many wins as he can. For the ACC Championships, Naumec hopes to improve upon his finishes from freshman and sophomore year.

"I didn't play that well at ACC's freshman or sophomore year," Naumec explained. "That's one of my weaknesses is hyping up bigger matches. Finishing in the top 10 or 15 this year would be great. Playing solid all throughout would be awesome."

Naumec will keep repeating the following mantra: "Put my head down, do the work and hopefully it pays off" as he looks to continue his success through the rest of his junior campaign.

Players Mentioned

Matt Naumec

Boston College Athletics

On The Fringe

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