Learning techniques from fellow teammates is a common habit for seniors Ryan Fecco and Joe Marszelak in the game of golf.

This year’s Oswego State men’s golf team is off to a promising start this fall finishing first of seven in the Clarkson University Invitational and first of four in the Utica College Invitational. The key factor for this year’s golf team’s success is the senior leadership of Fecco and Marszelak. Both have been on the team together since Fecco joined as a freshman. 

Fecco, in his fourth year hitting off the tee, recently earned recognition as Oswego State athlete of the week for Sept. 17. Head coach of the Lakers Michael Howard had high praise for his leading player.

“Ryan is very consistent with his game,” Howard said. “He typically gets off the tee well, which puts him in a solid position on his approach shots. He also makes a lot of those two and three foot putts.  Ryan is confident in his ability so I think that translates well to the other members of the team.”

Fecco’s hard work does not go unnoticed to members of his team as Marzselak worked with him from freshman to senior year at Oswego. 

“Fecco has been great, he is our number one guy,” Marzselak said. “He just goes out there and goes slow. He’s rather going to win the tournament or go in the top five every time.”

Marszelak, who shot a crisp 78 in their nine team Clarkson tournament, referred to his relationship with Fecco as a learning experience. They have both been playing the game for a long time, but there is always room for improvement when playing 18 holes. 

“Our swings are a little different,” Marszelak said.  “But we do play a similar style of game, he has helped me immensely on the golf course, we help each other keep our cool.”

Advice and teamwork on the golf course is one of best ways to ensure a low team score for a tournament. In the Lakers’ win at the four team Utica College Invitational Sept. 16, Howard was amazed how low their four active players kept their score.

“Overall we did not have any scores in the 90s at Utica,” Howard said. “The guys did a good job, Yahnundasis Country Club is a quality venue and four out of the five guys had never played there before so they did a really nice job on managing the course.” 

Having previous experience on a golf course is a great advantage for someone as well. Fecco had already chipped off this course before and was able to focus on his strongest part of his game.

“Just keeping the ball in play was huge,” Fecco said. “I know my way around that course from playing it in my junior days and a few times in college, so I just knew where to place the ball off the tee to help give myself the best looks I could get.”

Defeating the defending champion Utica College was a large stepping stone for Oswego State. Not only did they come in first place but they gained the confidence of defeating a previous foe. Players like Fecco and Marszelak who are in their final season for the Lakers are just happy to enjoy playing golf again with their college team. With a year taken away from them, enjoying the little things makes the playing experience that much greater. 

“I told some of the guys on the team that this year finally feels somewhat normal again,” Fecco said.  “And I missed that a lot. Not only did I miss not playing on the team when, but I missed hanging out with the guys off of the course as well.”

The sky is the limit for Laker Golf this season as they hope to keep improving all the way working toward the 14th Annual Laker Tournament in May.  Right now in the fall season, they will have their sights set on the 23rd Annual Oswego State Fall Invitational Saturday and Sunday. 

 Howard expects that the ceiling for this year’s Laker team will send them to a deep postseason run in spring. If they perform well enough in their fall invitationals they will have a chance to qualify and compete for a title in May.

 “Ultimately this fall we are looking forward to posting some scores that will put us in contention for the overall Empire 8 Conference Championship in the spring,” Howard said. “In my opinion we have the players who are capable of doing this and we are looking forward to that challenge.” 

Joe Marszelak | The Oswegonian