By Mikael DeSanto
Staff Writer
Matt Abendroth, from Ottawa Hills, Ohio, shot one-over-par (71 strokes) in the first round, nine-over-par (79 strokes) in the second round and finished with a five-over-par in the third round. He finished with 225 strokes, or fifteen-over-par for the tournament, giving him the second best score on the team behind senior Josh Stauffer.
“Winning Atlantic 10 Rookie of Week is a great honor to me,” Abendroth said. “We play in a great conference, and it’s pretty special to find out you were the best freshman for that week.”
Abendroth joins fellow freshman Brent Morgan, who was named Atlantic 10 Golf Rookie of the Week back in the week of September 24 to 30, as the only two on the team to win the honor this year.
Head coach Ryan Swanson said he saw Abendroth’s achievement as a good thing for not just the individual, but also the team as a whole.
“We’ve been searching for a guy to step up out of four or five guys,” Swanson said. “Three seniors have been traveling for the duration of the spring, and talking to them a lot, they haven’t had a fourth guy to step up and do what Matt did.”
Abendroth has played in five of the teams’ nine tournaments this season, but only at the Greenbrier Invitational in the spring. Since Swanson became coach in January, last week was the first tournament Swanson had seen Abendroth in, and the first Abendroth had played in almost six months.
“I think the lack of playing time has kind of hurt him, but at the same time that made him eager to get out there and prove himself,” Swanson said. “He just needed that as motivation over the winter to get himself better when we were practicing indoors and then once he got his chance he was ready to jump on it.”
Abendroth has worked to improve his game throughout the season, but recognized that the preparation for tournaments is a team effort and that they need to work together to strengthen the team as a whole.
“We all challenge each other each and every day to get better and better,” Abendroth said. “Everyone on this team understands what we need to do individually in order to get better as a golfer, so it is really up to you how hard you want to work.”
Swanson said he has seen improvement in Abendroth’s game since he became coach and after looking back at his scores in the fall, feels he has improved in some areas.
“Seeing his stats from the fall, his short game was a lot better than it was in the fall,” Swanson said. “He was consistently hitting the ball to the fairway off the tee, getting himself in good positions. He didn’t make a whole lot of big mistakes.”
Looking forward to the rest of the season, Abendroth is focused on continuing where he left off at the Greenbrier Invitational and knows that keeping the mental side of his game is important to finding continued success.
“I plan on having the same mindset as I did at the Greenbrier,” Abendroth said. “I really try to stay loose out there on the course. I don’t want to overthink things when I’m out there, because it really only leads to bad things for me.”
But Abendroth sees the privilege that he has been afforded and does not want to take anything for granted.
“I am very fortunate enough to play Division I golf,” Abendroth said. “This is an experience that I have always dreamed of, and I want to enjoy every moment of it. “
Abendorth’s next opportunity to play will be in the UConn ‘Til Duty is Done Intercollegiate in Norwich, Connecticut, on April 23 and 24, and then the Atlantic 10 Championship in Orlando, Florida, from April 29 to May 1.
desantmj13@bonaventure.edu
