In a Good Place

Sure, Sam Hahn knew that most of the guys with whom he’d shared the Collegiate golf experience were off in college and indulging their passion for their sport of choice, but it wasn’t until team training began in late February that the hard realization truly hit him.

 

Hahn, a junior, was the lone remaining regular from a team that the past three seasons won two Prep League (2021, 2023) and two VISAA (2021, 2023) championships.

 

Now, with 2023 graduates Jack Barnes (Hampden-Sydney), Tyler Brand (Dartmouth), Hudson Pace (Lafayette), and Tucker Smith (Hampden-Sydney) playing at the next level, the responsibility to serve as the bridge from the past to the next generation fell to him.

 

“Oftentimes, it goes in the opposite direction where you’re young and as you get older, you experience success and championships,” said Shep Lewis, Collegiate’s head golf coach, who’s assisted by Robert Wrenn and Ted Lansing. “Sam experienced that in his early years. All of a sudden, he found himself a veteran surrounded by guys who haven’t been there before. He’s just as committed to this team as he was to the championship teams. He’s been an incredible leader for us.”

 

Settling into his new role was an adjustment for Hahn, which surprised him a bit considering his first season at the varsity level during the abbreviated COVID spring of 2020.

 

“I already knew a lot of the guys from playing at Hermitage Country Club, so I was pretty comfortable with the team,” he said. “I never felt like they were that much older than I was. I always felt like I was right there in the mix.”

 

The program’s upward trajectory began following the lost season.

 

“I don’t think any of us had any expectations,” said Hahn, who held the No. 4 spot on that squad and earned All-Prep honors. “I don’t think we knew how good we could be. Once we won the Prep League, we realized our potential. We took that confidence and team chemistry to the state tournament.”

 

The medalist in five matches this season and team leader in stroke average (37.33 per nine-hole round) , Hahn has learned that this new generation is looking to him (and returners Henry Palmore, a junior, and sophomore Quinn Pace) for inspiration, words of wisdom, and guidance by example.

 

“I always looked up to the older guys,” he said. “I tried to follow in their footsteps and learn from them. This year, I’m the oldest, which has taken a lot of getting used to. There were faces I didn’t know very well. I had to learn people’s names.”

 

A moment of truth came before the Cougars’ first match with St. Anne’s-Belfield in March.

 

“I had to gather everyone myself and do my best to give them some motivation,” Hahn said. “It was uncomfortable at first because I didn’t know some of them very well.”

 

We’re used to golfing individually, but we’re a team, and we have to work together, he recalls telling them. We add up the top four scores. If you have one bad hole, you can’t let that get to you. You have to keep pushing. Even if you double-bogey one hole, your score can still count if you get it back together.

He chose his words judiciously. In the past, you see, the guys were comfortable enough with one another that they could speak honestly and openly, offer constructive criticism freely, and know that it would be taken as it was intended.

 

“I had to be careful,” he said, “because I didn’t want anybody to take what I said the wrong way. As the season has gone on, they’ve gotten used to what I’m saying and know that it’s for best for the team.”

 

He’s now quite comfortable with his role as go-to leader.

 

“The older guys [from past teams] taught me what it’s like to lead,” he said. “I like people telling me straight up if I’m doing something wrong. I like getting to the point: you need to be working on this, focus on that…we can’t be doing this.”

        

“That’s the direction I’ve been taking with the team. I think the younger kids have done a good job of learning that it won’t all be sugar coating.”

 

The Cougars, nine strong (two 8th graders, three sophomores, three juniors, and one senior) closed their regular season 11-4-1 with a seven-stroke victory (148-155) over Trinity Episcopal May 1. They’re currently ranked second in the league and fourth in the state.

 

Next up is the Prep League tournament May 7 at Old Trail Golf Club, in Crozet, followed by the VISAA championship May 13 at the Williamsburg National Golf Club. Match results show that the Cougars, albeit young and inexperienced in post-season play, are, nevertheless, a contender in these annual, anyone-can-win-if-they-bring-their-A-game competitions.

 

“I think we’re in a good place,” Hahn said. “We can use these next few days for really good practice and reflecting on the season and what’s helped us play our best. That’s the mental game.

 

“You can always figure out how to scrap it around on the course if you’re hitting it badly, but if your mental game isn’t where it needs to be, you can get into a really bad place.

 

“Coach Wrenn has a three-word phrase: ‘Commit. Execute. Accept.’ We’ve been working on the ‘accept’ part. If you hit a bad shot, you have to accept it. You can’t let it get into your head. You leave it in the rear-view mirror. You have to let it go and make sure you keep the good ones.”

 

With that premise in mind…

 

“We’re trying to do some great things now and next year,” Lewis said. “Sam’s a big part of our past, present, and future. It’s important for him to continue the culture. He’s teaching the younger guys about what it means to be a Collegiate golfer. He’s handled that with aplomb.”

~Weldon Bradshaw