The MU women’s golf team @MJASPERSGOLF/ INSTAGRAM
Zeke Jazwinski, Contributor
Manhattan University’s women’s golf team officially launched its inaugural season this past weekend, competing in the program’s first-ever tournament at Bucknell University. This season, the Jaspers are working under Head Coach Keith Prokop, who has experience building out programs and improving team records.
Prokop pushed the team during preseason in hopes of seeing results as soon as the first tournament. Standout sophomore Maddison Long spoke to The Quadrangle about taking on the new season.
“I think we are really well prepared, especially with the courses we’ve been playing,” Long wrote in an email to The Quadrangle. “Coach has definitely challenged us. When we got to the practice round, we were pleasantly surprised with our games. We all feel like we have an opportunity to score, even in our first event.”
While the tournament marked a competitive first for the program, it also marked the first time this season the team played together, joining a variety of different backgrounds, both in skill and geographical location.
“It’s just the experience of playing with the team,” Long wrote. “We’re from all over the place, most of us being far from home, playing for this great university. In terms of golf, we’ve all done it before, but this means more because we’ve been putting in so much work to get to this point.”
With all players coming new to the team, the group is lacking a natural mentorship design other D1 programs at the university have built in. To help mitigate this, Nawel Ben Latief, the team’s only senior, has taken on a leadership role both on and off the course.
“I just want my teammates to know not to be too hard on themselves,” Ben Latief wrote in an email. “It’s new courses, new teammates, new coaches, new languages even, for some. It’s a lot of new challenges, but we’re going to face them together.”
In her final collegiate season, Ben Latief is most excited to be a team player.
“To be part of a team. Just that simple,” Ben Latief wrote. “I’m just happy to actually play for people I enjoy and want to play for.”
With it being the first-ever season for the team, there are no set expectations, leaving the group to decide what’s most important to them to achieve.
“We have no bar to judge ourselves on, so the expectations need to be placed on ourselves,” Ben Latief wrote. “Strict routines, staying in the present, and accepting what we can’t control. Then, in the end, be grateful to be here and play for this university.”
As for Prokop, he’s excited for the opportunity to grow the program from the ground up.
“Just watching the growth of this program…I’m really excited to see these girls compete in their first event,” Prokop said. “But honestly, it’s all about what’s going to happen at the end of the year. That growth is going to be a fun thing for me to watch.”
While it’s hard to know what to expect from the women’s team this season, Prokop believes the talent will speak for itself by the season’s end.
“It’s going to be a little bit of a rollercoaster ride,” Prokop said. “We’re going to have our ups and downs with any season, especially with how much youth we have on this team. But I think we might surprise a lot of teams by the end of the year.”
The Bucknell Invitational also marks the first time that national eyes will lay their sights on the new program.
“It’s our first tournament,” Prokop said. “We have so many steps, so many swings ahead of us. It’s about shaking off those first-tournament nerves, playing the Jasper brand of golf, and just enjoying the opportunity to start on page one.”
As for what defines the “Jasper brand of golf”?
“It’s really about being reflective and true to yourself,” Prokop said. “Try to be the best version of yourself every single shot…not focusing on the past, not worrying too much about the future. Just do your best at that moment.”
Prokop plans to lean on upperclassmen Long and Ben Latief, as both bring college-level experience and previous tournament wins to the program.
“The tone has already kind of been set,” Prokop said. “The girls came in motivated, ready, and hungry to be successful. They’re a great group and they’re getting along really well. When everything clicks like that, it can lead to something really special.”