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Success is a fickle thing. A team can find great success one season only to have expectations raised higher in the next. 

Such can be said about the Montcalm Community College Centurions men’s golf team, which is returning to action this spring after capturing a regional title and earning an appearance in the NJCAA Division II National Championships tournament last May. For Centurions head coach Doug Harkema, many of the expectations are set not so much from the outside but rather from within. 

“Last year, we had built it to where we had a bunch of guys comfortable competing in tournaments,” Harkema said. “This year’s team has a lot of potential. That usually means a lot of upside, but it also means we are not quite there yet. I have expectations for all our players, and that’s to reach their potential and continue to improve.” 

The team has two returning players in sophomores Mason Blair (Holt, Mich.) and Kenny Mitchell (Cedar Springs, Mich.). Joining them are five new players, all freshmen, including Chase Couchman (Holly, Mich.), Spencer Denney (Battle Creek, Mich.), Joey Mario (Battle Creek, Mich.), Landon Elder (Louisville, Ky.), and Ethan Wempen (Hartsburg, Mo.).  

Despite an almost total reset of the team, Harkema’s expectations match that of the talent he has to work with this season, which is at a high level. 

“The sky is not falling. We are again a really good team,” Harkema said. “It’s a matter of being consistent. Our youngsters shot amazingly in practice rounds and even in tournaments. We just need to be more consistent and I think that’s coming.” 

MCC has begun to grease its wheels already this season, competing with several teams at the Hampden-Sydney Invitational at the Foxfire Golf Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina, March 9-10, which the team took 12th place.  

Mitchell said the team has no lack of determination or confidence and the whole group has meshed well early in the season. 

“Our freshman group is very talented and willing to learn,” Mitchell said. “If they keep buying in on what coach says, then we could make a run in any tournament.” 

Having Blair and Mitchell leading the team will be key for the Centurions to have a shot at repeating last year’s success, according to Harkema, who said both players have matured with each semester they’ve gotten through at the two-year community college. 

“We frame it differently. We call our sophomores seniors,” Harkema said. “Golf is played in two separate seasons. So we graduate by semesters. We look at Kenny and Mason as seniors. And this is their last semester.  

“These young guys have already played and been very successful in the fall,” he continued. “We won tournaments like we did the year before, shot low scores. So, we’re looking to try and get more consistent to replicate what we did last year.” 

Mitchell is on board with what Harkema expects from him this season. 

“We expect to give it our all and get better every week,” Mitchell said. “We want to play for each other and stay steady to make it to nationals for a second time. My job on this team is to be a leader for my teammates, make sure they always have someone to go to for help and bring the energy when needed.” 

While chemistry is something Harkema holds as a high priority for his team each season, one of the biggest challenges for the team will be handling the pressure of expectations, particularly with seven talented players all trying to make the five-man scorecard to compete in tournaments.  

“There’s so much competition within our team that actually might hurt us a bit because there’s pressure of getting to the five,” Harkema said. “I’m trying to get away from that.” 

Harkema has told his players that no one on the team is ever out of the top five, that each of them has a chance to make it each week. Harkema said competition comes with patience just as much as determination. Finding that balance will make a golfer better, he said. 

“They can put pressure on themselves to try to do all of it right now,” he said. “But the guys who deal with that the best will be playing when it matters.” 

Just as he preached to his team last year, Harkema is again teaching this year’s team the basketball mentality of focusing on “the next game,” which he believes is how each player can progress and improve. 

That “next game” will be Friday, April 3, at the Marian University Ancilla College Invitational in Plymouth, Indiana. Players tee off at 10 a.m. 

“The most important game is the next game,” Harkema said. “We’re just trying to get ready for April 3. Just the day-to-day work that these kids have to put in, mental work, that’s what I’m really trying to help them with. That’s what usually holds you back, the mental side, which is difficult. They can all hit the ball well, but I’m looking for them to perform consistently.  

“They have to become more consistent,” he added. “We’re trying to get where we go as low as we can with our scores and not blow up over a certain number after that.”