In 2015, Spiethsanity rocked the golf world. As the 21-year-old golf prodigy Jordan Spieth won two major championships and five tournaments overall, fans and players alike marveled at the PGA Tour Player of the Year. Middlebury men’s golf had their own Spieth-like run in the 2022–23 season, winning the NESCAC championship by 15 strokes – their first title since 2015–16.
But in the way of Speith’s success streak came the 2016 Masters Tournament. Spieth held the lead going into Sunday but proceeded to card a quadruple bogey on the water-lined 15 hole. Since that day, he has never quite regained the confidence and success of his magical 2015 season, yet remains dear in the hearts of all golf fans.
Similarly, Middlebury men’s golf has fallen into a rut of underperformance over the last two years. This past weekend, the Panthers shot a combined 55-over-par, with zero rounds under 80 on the first day of the tournament. They limped back home in 12th place, with the lone bright spot being a T-19 finish from Brendan Maykel ’25, who closed the day with four birdies on the card.
The question now is: Was this weekend’s performance a continuation of last season’s poor play or the beginning of a comeback story? Will the 2023–24 metaphorical “quadruple bogey” remain as the status quo, or will this season see a resurgence in energy and motivation towards a strong finish in the NESCAC championship — rebounding just as Spieth has in his efforts to improve leading up to this years’ Masters?
To answer these questions, I turned to Middlebury’s men’s golf coach, Justin Kumpulanian. Coach Kumpulanian began his Middlebury tenure in January 2024, coming from Williams College, where he was the assistant men’s golf coach and a PGA professional at Taconic Golf Club.
To improve, Kumpulanian said, the team needs to put itself in a position to win.
“We should expect to contend, and expect to win,” he told The Campus. The team needs to “fight to perform like [they] did at Taconic in the fall.”
He is referring to the Williams Fall Invitational, where the Panthers stormed to a strong second place out of 19 teams.
Kumpulanian also shared how the players made some technical improvements over the winter break.
“The coaching staff sits down with each of the guys and makes individual plans based on what they need to work on,” Kumpulanian said. He noted that across the board, the team needs to keep their shot dispersion small, especially with scoring irons (a term that includes wedges and short irons), and improve driving accuracy.
Charlie Schulman ’26 echoed that sentiment, mentioning that the team often plays shorter, narrower, courses in the Northeast and thus must rely on wedge accuracy. Schulman, a holdover from that 2022–23 team, also stressed the importance of team chemistry, citing the group’s recent spring break trip to Tennessee as a much-needed reintroduction to golf after a long winter, and as a way to connect with the underclassmen.
As Spieth tees it up at Augusta National Golf Club this weekend in search of his first major title in eight years, the Panthers begin their own high-stakes stretch. Panthers fans are hoping to see all the swing changes, chemistry-building and wedge practice come to fruition with a win at the NESCAC championship, ending their drought and putting men’s golf back on the map.
The Panthers have two weekends of tournaments to tune up: this weekend in Ballston Spa, N.Y., and next weekend in Williamstown, Mass. before the NESCAC Championship at Taconic Golf Club from April 25–27.
