The NWN recently had the chance to sit down with Boys’ Varsity golf head coach Mitchell Stern to talk about the upcoming season.
NWN: How does your team look this year based on the first week of your season?
Stern: Tryouts were last week, and this week we’ve had [our first] match on Monday (Aug. 19). We shot 308 as a team, which is a really low score. If we can shoot a 308 all season long, we’re going to be one of the best teams around. I was really happy with the way we played. We had four players in the 70’s: (senior)Nate Lee, (sophomore) Skylar Levine, (senior) Brett Pechter and (senior) Roy Slowiak. All nine varsity players played for us [on Monday]. That shows that we have a little depth and a lot of guys who can shoot good scores– hopefully that can carry over all season long.
NWN: Lee certainly draws a lot of attention, and rightfully so as one of the better golfer’s in the state, but would it be safe to say that your group of guys is more than a one man team?
Stern: Definitely. He is a superstar, no question about it. He’s one of the elite golfers in the state, but the other guys are not that far behind. They’ve all made some nice improvements over the summer and after the end of last season. I’m really pleased with what I’ve seen so far.
NWN: Every sport at Niles West is more than just a season-long committment with off season training. How does the golf team train when not in season?
Stern: It’s a little more difficult [than other school sports] because there aren’t school organized things for golf. A lot of it is done by independent golf tournament association for juniors called the Illinois Junior Golf Association.The kids can play tournaments two to three times a week if they want, or they could play once a month. The have to do all of the busy work to get themselves ready for these tournaments, but the ones who do usually have a lot of success during the course of the season. Practice is the best way to improve in golf.
NWN: In golf, players play for themselves without the teamwork required to excel in other sports. Why do you feel it is called the golf ‘team’?
Stern: [Golf is] one hundred percent an individual sport. But, in golf, you take four of your team’s best scores and those are the scores that count for your team. While you’re the only one that controls it, it counts for the team, not for yourself
NWN: As you’ve mentioned, Lee is one of the best players around and among the top golfers in school history. He clearly has natural talent, but is there something more that separates him from the pack?
Stern: He has a very good demeanor on the golf course. He doesn’t get flustered or rattled by negative or bad things that happen. He’s not perfect, so sometimes he’ll hit a bad shot, but he knows how to recover from adversity.
NWN: Heading into your thirteenth season as head coach, do you have a specific goal you’d like your team to achieve this season?
Stern: We always want to finish in the top three(out of six teams) in the conference. We want to be a sectional qualifier as a team. And then get as many [golfers] to state as we can. If we can get more than Nate there, that’d be amazing. I’d love to bring two or three guys down there. And then every day go out and just try to get better.
The team has high hopes and will look to combine their talent with hard work to achieve their goals. Up next, they’ll tee off at the Addison Trial tournament this afternoon at 4:00 and in the Csl Ryder Cup-Dual golf tournament on Monday, AUg. 26 at Chick Evans golf course.
