Dave Ragone, Head Coach

Chad Scott

MONMOUTH, Ill. — You might say that the Monmouth College men’s golf team is in Year Fore of the Dave Ragone era.

The sport returned to varsity status at the college in 2000, and Ragone took over the coaching reins the following spring. Two players on his initial roster, Chad Scott and Alan Sullivan, will complete their collegiate careers this season.

“Two of our players have come full circle,” said Ragone, who led the Scots to a Midwest Conference title in 2002. “We’ll actually have three seniors on the roster – Matt Fitzpatrick is rejoining us after not playing last season. He was a big part of our conference champion team.”

The most important cog figures to be Scott, an All-MWC performer in 2001 who was 5-for-5 in rounds in the 70s last week on a spring break trip to Missouri. The team played on four different courses, and Scott’s three-over 75 at Old Kinderhook in Camdenton was the best score in relation to par.

“It all boils down to Chad,” said Ragone. “He’s been our No. 1 guy now for four years. I’m expecting big things from him.”

Scott will have help, though, as Fitzpatrick figures to be a regular contributor. He was an All-MWC player in 2002.

Orion freshman Lee Radford, whose stroke average was 77 on the spring break trip, was called a “nice surprise,” by Ragone, who added, “He’s a very consistent player.”

Ragone is known for firing up both his golfers and his football special teamers with nicknames and slogans – including “We don’t participate, we compete” – and his offering for 2004 is “Consistency is our creed.”

“We’re going to need to be consistent to be successful,” he said. “We’ve seen that so far from Chad, and the more players who follow suit, the stronger we’ll be.”

Ragone said that sophomore Jeff Malek and juniors Matt Hawkins and Luke Colletti should also be regular contributors. Hawkins (71) and Colletti (73) have the two lowest rounds since golf returned in 2000. Their presence means it’s possible that Ragone could have a player from all four classes score at some meets.

“We have a nice, well-rounded squad of seven freshmen and seven upperclassmen,” he said.

The team has its first intercollegiate match Friday and Saturday at Millikin University. The team will play in nine regular season events, leading up to the MWC Tournament May 7-8 in Rockford.

“Our No. 1 goal is to win conference,” said Ragone, whose Scots slipped to fourth at the meet a year ago. “Everything that we do leads up to that point. I expect it to be a three-team race between us, Knox and Lawrence. We’ll see Knox at basically every tournament we enter, but we might not see Lawrence until the conference tournament.”

Highlights of the schedule include the Scots’ two dates at Gibson Woods. On April 17, 15 teams will take part in the Monmouth College Invitational, and MC will also host the first 18 holes of the 36-hole South Division Tournament on May 1.

Ragone is also excited about the anticipated fields at events hosted by Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan, and the Scots will be making a return trip to Dearborn, Mich., for the Red Poling Classic, held at the TPC of Michigan.