There’s always a special connection for athletes to where they grew up. For redshirt senior Will Echelmeier and sophomore Matt Echelmeier of the Missouri men’s golf team, that place is right here in Columbia.
“It’s cool, playing here in Columbia, especially this year,” Will Echelmeier said. “It’ll be different and better because we have a home tournament. We have a lot of fans, but in the past it’s hard for them to keep up with us because we’re always playing so far away.”
The men’s golf team will play one tournament at home this season: the Tiger Invitational from April 10-11 at The Club at Old Hawthorne. The team hasn’t competed at home since 2013, at the NCAA Columbia Regional tournament.
The Echelmeier brothers also spoke about the expectations of their play in addition to the team for the 2016-17 season. The team finished 12th of 14 schools at the 2016 Southeastern Conference Championship in Sea Island, Georgia. The team reigned victorious at one tournament, the season-opening Turning Stone Invitational in Verona, New York.
“Last year we just missed out on regionals,” Matt Echelmeier said. “And over the summer, that kind of hurt our guys, and we’ve had some players respond with some great rounds. We got a junior-college transfer [Trevor Ullestad] and a freshman [Rory Franssen] that will certainly help out, they’ve done some great things this summer as well. We don’t wanna look too far ahead though, the focus is on [the upcoming Turning Stone Invitational].”
In addition to remaining focused on the current season, the Echelmeiers made it clear they’re avid followers of the PGA Tour. They paid homage to current tour player Peter Malnati, a Missouri graduate.
“We pull hard for Peter [Malnati],” Will Echelmeier said. “Everyone on the team follows him closely, and when he does well we’ll all text about it. It’s really cool to see someone so similar to us come from Mizzou and play well on the PGA Tour.”
Malnati has had recent success, winning his first PGA Tour event at the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi, and recorded a hole-in-one at the 2016 Wyndham Championship. Will Echelmeier stated that Malnati’s success creates a clearer picture for success on a professional level.
“It’s so much easier to see yourself doing well in the pros when you see him, who wasn’t a big-time recruit, like most of the guys here, succeed,” Will Echelmeier said. “It’s no secret that it’s tough out there- he’s had his struggles in past years, but now to see him having success is really cool.”
The men’s team returns all five of its previous starters. Franssen — a Iverness, Scotland, native and a member of the Scottish under-18 team — and Ullestad, of Jewell, Iowa, are the lone newcomers to the men’s team. In addition to Will and Matt Echelmeier, they join sophomore Preston Fleenor of Kansas City, Missouri and juniors Hayden Buckley of Belden, Mississippi, and Luigi Botta of Cuneo, Italy. Euan Walker of Troon, Scotland, Linus Lilliedahl of Sadviken, Sweden and Jacob Fair of Monett, Missouri, are the seniors on the team.
The relationship the brothers have with each other is also very important to them. This season will be their second playing together on the golf team. Previously, they played together for one season at Columbia’s Rock Bridge High School, when Will Echelmeier was a senior and Matt Echelmeier was a freshman.
“Growing up we were always competing, like in Ping-Pong and basketball,” Matt Echelmeier said. “I don’t know if it’s the same with Will, but I always wanted to beat him. I always wanted to come out on top, and now that we’re on the same team here at Mizzou, it’s awesome. I’ve always loved playing with Will, and the team shares our competitiveness with each other.”
Will Echelmeier had a slightly different view on the dynamic.
“I’ll tell you what it’s like competing in golf with Matt,” he said. “The only thing that we’ll compete peacefully in is golf. We haven’t finished a pickup basketball game that didn’t end in a fistfight in probably five years.”
The brothers will look to build off last season’s performance in the hope of improving even more this year. By combination of the dynamic of their brotherhood off the course, along with the drive and determination of the whole team, for the Mizzou men’s golf team, optimism is all around.
“It’s safe to say we’re ready for a big year,” Will Echelmeier said. “We’re all excited to get to work.”
_Edited by Theo DeRosa | tderosa@themaneater.com_