Matt Harmon: Earning His Way
11/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Nov. 17, 2003
It's a right of passage for all collegiate golfers.
Freshman year, you have to earn the bed you sleep in. Luckily for Michigan State freshman Matt Harmon hasn't had to worry about that too much.
In his inaugural season on the Spartan golf team, Harmon has not only had a bed to sleep in, he currently has the team's lowest stroke average (74.35).
"That's definitely something we play for," Harmon said. "Craig (Revell) and I usually have to play for the bed, because we are the freshmen. Whoever has the lowest stroke average gets to sleep in the bed for that night and the other gets the cot."
Harmon, a native of Grand Rapids, Mich., arrived in East Lansing with high expectations. A three-time all-state selection and the 2002 Mr. Golf winner as Michigan's Player of the Year, he had a successful start to his collegiate career.
"It was a little slow starting out. I didn't really shoot the numbers I wanted to at the start of the fall," Harmon said. "As the year went on and I started to get more comfortable, I shot some lower scores."
None lower than in the final event of the fall.
He shot a dazzling 66 at the Duke Classic in North Carolina. Harmon's 6-under par round is the lowest score ever by a true freshman at Michigan State and is tied for the second lowest round overall in school history.
"It really helps with confidence, but I am not to worried about the records," he said.
Coach Mark Hankins has been impressed with Harmon's ability and attributes his all-around talent to his success this fall.
"He has always been extremely athletic and played well in big tournaments," Hankins said. "He shot 64 in the state tournament and that's something you don't do unless you know how to handle your nerves and the pressure of competition."
Harmon, who chose Michigan State over Notre Dame, Purdue and Illinois credits part of his smooth transition to Hankins and to his familiarity with the school.
"I have known coach for a long time and I just felt comfortable here," he said. "I have my sister here, I played high school golf with Ruth (Andy Ruthkoski) and I already knew most of the guys on the team."
Although Harmon has gotten off to solid start this season, he knows that there is plenty for him to work on. Any collegiate athlete will tell you, time management is the key to having a successful career, and as much as any other sport does. Golf forces student-athletes to stick to a schedule and places demands on their time.
"When I first got here I had so much other stuff to do, I didn't get to practice that much," Harmon said. "I didn't realize it would be so time demanding and you had to schedule your time so tightly every day."
The team got off to a solid start this fall, finishing in the top seven in four of the five events, but as always, they look to improve in the spring.
"I hope and expect all of us to shoot lower numbers in the spring," Harmon said. "We have had at least one good round sometimes two, but we need to have better depth."
The Spartans look to improve on the fall by taking advantage of what most see as a disadvantage, those blustery Michigan winters. As the snow falls, the team will focus on conditioning and the necessary technical changes that are tough to make while competing.
"Today's players seem to be more focused on fundamentals. In the past you'd just go out and hit it and see what happens," Hankins said. "If you're going to be out there thinking about your positions when you're supposed to be thinking about shooting 72, you're going to shoot 79."
Harmon is looking forward to having that time to work on his game and prepare for the spring season.
"There are some little mechanical changes I want to make in my swing, and hopefully work on my putting," he said. "Putting was my biggest problem this fall. I am looking forward working with coach this winter.
"I just need to make more putts."
When that starts to happen, who knows how good he'll be.
By Rob Schlissberg, MSU Sports Information
Players Mentioned
