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Minster's Jack Meyer will be key to whether the Wildcats advance to the state boys golf tournament for a sixth straight season.
MINSTER - The Minster boys golf team has made five straight trips to state, three under coach Jeremy Magoto, in one of the most successful stretches in program history.
But coach Magoto says the Wildcats rarely discuss the state tournament as they go through the season.
"We haven't mentioned that this season, and I can't remember mentioning that, really, any of the seasons," he said. "We really try to have a narrow focus. Only the player knows their weaknesses, truly, so we allow them to self-identify those, and then we address that and we watch that as we go through our tournaments."
Going into his fourth season at the helm, coach Magoto has seen every iteration of state qualifiers: a surprise team, his second year, where his son Joseph was the only senior among a bunch of plucky, overachieving sophomores that had never even played in a sectional before; a developing team, in 2022, with three juniors and a freshman; and a veteran team, last year, which featured 10 seniors and had the top five golfers come in with a combined eight appearances at the state tournament.
Now, he faces the first full turnover of his tenure, as seniors Ray Purdy, Mitchell Bornhorst and Nathan Beair graduated in the spring.
"We lost the three seniors that were part of us for a long, long time," he said (although it's hard to say they completely lost them, as Bornhorst was out on the Arrowhead putting green during the interview). "So we understand that we have big holes to fill, but the young ones are excited. Seems to me that they're really falling for the game."
Last year, with 10 seniors, the Wildcats fielded three teams to give them all the chance to play. This year, the bill comes due, with the returners light on tournament experience.
Minster's Louis Magoto will be key to whether the Wildcats advance to the state boys golf tournament for a sixth straight season.
Minster does bring back two of the top golfers on the Lima Junior Golf Association tour this summer, Jack Meyer and Louis Magoto. Meyer, a senior, is going into his fourth year on varsity, while Louis Magoto, a junior, is entering his third.
Meyer finished third in the Player of the Year standings, winning the Hot Head Burritos Open with a 72 at Celina Lynx on June 20 and adding four more top-five finishes. Louis Magoto finished in the top five seven times, highlighted by a runner-up 71 at the Webb Insurance Open on July 25.
"For me, it was just building confidence and just playing under pressure," Meyer said of his experience on the LJGA tour, noting that despite competing as an individual, he found it similar to fall varsity meets. "That's a big difference from playing by yourself out at Arrowhead."
Coach Magoto said that the transition of leadership seemed to have happened naturally, and that often when he addresses the team, his two veterans will add their own notes from a player's perspective.
In the Rob Contini Memorial to open the season, he saw them explaining to the younger golfers how to adjust their warm-ups to a shotgun start and which shots they should practice to prepare for the course at Colonial Golfers Club.
"It just happens," he said. "You wonder as a coach what's going to happen, but they just assume that role. These guys have assumed that role. A lot of times, the players are coaching the players. It's nice to see. They'll correct each other in a respectful way, they'll watch over each other."
Meyer and Louis Magoto said they learned from Purdy, Bornhorst and Beair's even-keeled approach and maturity, and Meyer added that leadership was the biggest thing he wanted to grow in this year.
"Even this offseason, I'd find guys out here and we'd join up," he said. "I'd help them out and just give them little pointers to make them better. These tournaments, just for those three, four guys that are new to the varsity team, it's a lot of pressure for them in their first varsity matches, and I've just given them little tips to calm their nerves."
The two said they have opposite strengths on the course: Meyer's best in the short game, and Louis Magoto is a big-hitter.
"Par 5s, I can get it there in two some days," he said. "That's probably my favorite part of my game."
With those two is sophomore Bryce Prenger, who served as the alternate at state last year and who Louis Magoto highlighted for his growth going into the season. Prenger was second behind Meyer in the Contini Memorial and fourth behind the two Wildcat veterans and Wapakoneta's Zac Niekamp in the Auglaize County Invitational.
Fellow sophomore Reese Beair and freshman Max Voisard have been battling for fourth on the scorecard early on, and coach Magoto said despite the turnover, the team has shown chemistry and camaraderie early on.
One of the biggest adjustments he's made since he started coaching is adding in more work on fundamentals, which will be an even bigger focus this year. His other focus has been on scenario work, putting the golfers in different situations in practice to let them figure out how to get out of trouble.
"Many times they've never been in that position in golf, whether it be casual or competition," he said. "So we try to go through a lot of scenarios, routines like that, just so they can process the information. That's been helpful, and that gives them confidence. It's really about building confidence."
Although he's played varsity since his freshman year, Louis Magoto said the mental side of the game is something that he's constantly working on.
"For golf, I feel like confidence comes and goes with bad days," he said. "So you just need to always keep working on gaining confidence during practice so you can shoot better during tournaments and dual matches against other teams. Really practices just help improve your confidence."
Coach Magoto said that not mentioning the MAC or state tournament during the year isn't really intentional, just a matter of focus. Despite the youth this year, he says the approach will be the same as ever, with a heavy focus on the mental fortitude that proves critical come tournament time.
"There's going to be moments of the season where you might be a little disappointed or you might get down on yourself," he said, "and then there's times when you're playing really well. (You have to) kind of let it ebb and flow and keep peace with yourself enough that when you get to tournament, you feel like, 'I've worked on all aspects of my game, including mental,' and just let it go."
