Winning never gets any easier. Steve Conley will be the first to tell you that, even as he closes in on 200 wins in his college coaching career.
At the Golfweek October Classic, Conley checked off career victory No. 159 as his Methodist team went 9 under for 54 holes at the Raven Golf Club in Sandestin, Florida, and won the team title by 17 shots. Part of it comes with familiarity – Methodist hosted the national championship here in 2013 and is a fixture at Golfweek’s annual Sandestin tournament – and part of it was revenge-seeking.
Earlier this month, Methodist let one slip away at the Tartan Invitational at Laurel Valley Country Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. The Monarchs had a big lead with nine to play, only to be overtaken by Emory.
“We’re playing great and Laurel is a tough track, we just kind of got sloppy on the back nine and Emory got hot,” Conley said. “It was a perfect storm.”
Methodist only had two days to shift the focus to Sandestin. Conley left his three returning first-team All-Americans – Andre Chi, Henry Angier and Cooper Hrabak – in the lineup while subbing in two other players and watched his men tidy up their games in another tough field. It’s not like his team doesn’t know what to do, Conley noted. Sometimes it’s just a lack of execution or confidence.
“We have a quality team, but there’s so many good teams in D3 now that you’ve got to be bringing it every week and you also have to be able to finish it,” he said. “Today I’m kind of surprised that we just kind of pulled away because they’re quality teams. My guys kept the pedal down. I think they didn’t want to see one go away like last week.”
Methodist’s 9-under total for 54 holes – which included a field-best round of 7 under on the final day – left them well ahead of Illinois Wesleyan in second. Lynchburg, which played the final round in 6 under, was another shot back in third and Emory was two shots behind that in fourth.
Cameron Cappuzzo, a Methodist senior, won the individual title at 10 under after bookending the tournament with rounds of 5-under 66.
Conley has led Methodist for over 30 years and won 13 national titles, most recently in 2022. D3 golf, like all divisions, has only gotten deeper in that time, forcing Conley to keep finding an edge. Conley says success always is going to lie with the players, but that over the years, he’s had to give them space to play the game more aggressively.
“I’ve had to allow them to be more aggressive in lots of places whereas before we would be a little bit more conservative,” he said. “I would also say just a little different mindset. I think the younger kids are just different than they were 10, 20 years ago. Be tough at times but also be very supportive. Just encouraging, that kind of thing. For me, in the right situations, we’ve got to be aggressive and we’ve got to be tough and keep battling.”
“The mindset I think is really the difference. If you’re not shooting under par on good days, you’re going to get beat. That’s what it really comes down to. And that’s that mentality, right?”
The flip side is that on bad days, Conley has to get his men to grind all the way to the end. The narrow loss at Laurel Valley drove that home.
Team culture has always been paramount for Conley. It doesn’t matter who’s in the bus, everyone has to be in it together. That’s particularly important on this year’s roster, which includes 10 men who have played in A-team events over the past two years. It’s unusual to have that depth, but it means that whoever tees it up for Methodist has to play hard.
“It’s a credit to the upperclassmen for setting the example and it’s a credit to all the guys on our team who buy into that,” he said. “It makes me proud as a coach that the guys are that way.”
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