St. John’s Golf kicks off spring season with top-six finish
The Johnnie golf team has started their 2026 spring season.
After placing sixth at the MIAC Conference Championship in the fall, the St. John’s golf team opened its spring season on Sunday by placing sixth out of 17 teams at the Wartburg Spring Invitational in Iowa.
Head coach Chris Howe emphasized that the top things that the team dialed in during winter training were strength and conditioning, the utilization of the stations and the team’s focus in the dome and maximizing the opportunity for the players to improve parts of their game.
Howe also touched on how the team utilized data analytics to figure out where deficiencies are based on the numbers and the statistics of the data that each player enters after every time they play. Data analytics would be the biggest thing for determining the biggest areas for improvement. The team’s mindset heading to Iowa was knowing that they want to be better every day.
“We’re never as good as we think we are, and we are never as bad as we think we are,” Howe said via email. “It’s usually some place in between there. We got back on Monday and looked at all the data, and we do the analytics, bring players in and go through the numbers, averages and benchmarks that we tried to reach. Everything is highly calculated.”
Sophomore Charlie Willette said that he feels way more connected to his teammates and has more motivation to commit to improving his skills as a golfer. During his freshman year, the main thing that Willette learned is that golf is a completely different game when comparing it to other collegiate level sports in terms of mentality where coaching and training isn’t nearly as relevant as staying calm and poised during a tournament round.
Willette explained that he now feels like he has much more of a responsibility for holding teammates accountable and making progress to benefit the team’s culture. During winter training, the main aspect that Willette said he developed was gaining strength in the gym by doing structured team workouts provided by trainers. Having set team workouts has helped Willette improve his abilities and make him more independent on similar aspects.
“Compared to my freshman year, I feel way more connected with my teammates and the structure of our practices and workouts,” Willette said via email. “Golf is such a mental game, especially staying calm and composed during tournaments. The main way I balance being a young player while also setting a good example for the freshman is bringing a positive attitude to every practice, workout or team event. Doing this makes it easier for younger players to enjoy themselves while still working hard.”
Senior Tim Fultz talked about his approach for this spring season being different from his previous years on the team. Fultz’s mindset in the few years prior to now is that the end seemed so far away. As a senior, he only has a few weeks left. The main focus from winter training for him and the team was strength improvement and practicing inside 150 yards with a lot of wedge drills and games.
“I definitely have a different perspective, the last few years the end has seemed so far away, now I just have a few weeks left,” Fultz said via email. “The next few weeks, I am going to try to enjoy my last few events, be grateful for the time that I have left with my teammates and try to be as present as possible.”
SJU Golf’s next tournament is on the weekend of April 18 and 19 at the Gustavus Adolphus Invitational.
