The longer first-year head coach Todd Kolean could mesh with his new golf team during the 2009-10 campaign, the better the season went. The experience culminated with the Violets ending the season with back-to-back team victories, including their first-ever University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship.
All season long, NYU established itself as one of the more consistent teams in the Northeast with several strong individual and collective performances. The Violets never finished any lower than fifth place as a team in their nine tournaments, including their two victories at the Johnson & Wales Invitational and the UAA Championship (which came on consecutive weekends to close the season).
The Violets also posted their lowest round of the season at the ECAC Division III Metro/Upstate Cup with a score of 293, which gave them a second-place finish. But, without question, the highlight of the season came in the last tournament of the year.
Playing on the 6,186-yard, par-72 Locust Hill Country Club golf course in Rochester, NY, at the UAA Championship, the Violets carded a second-round tally of 306, one stroke better than the first round, to come in with a total of 613. NYU finished two strokes ahead of Emory University, which was ranked as high as 14th in the GOLF WORLD Division III national poll.
“I don't think we could have done this without the help of the entire team,” Kolean said following the victory. “It was a team effort, and I'm really proud of winning our first UAA Championship.”
Senior Mike Leibfried collected First Team All-UAA accolades by coming in second place individually. Freshman Gabe Durkin finished in fourth place, also received First Team honors, and was named UAA Rookie of the Year. First Team honors also went to junior David Su (10th place), while Kolean and his assistants Matt Huck, Todd Spenla and January Romero were named UAA Coaching Staff of the Year.
Individually, Leibfried (75.1 avg. for the season) picked up victories at the McDaniel Spring Invitational and at the ECAC Division III Metro/Upstate Cup. He was also named UAA Athlete of the Week twice during the year and earned PING Division III All-Northeast Region honors.
Su finished as NYU's second-lowest scorer with a 76.7 average, placing in the top 10 of four different tournaments. He shot the lowest score of the NYU season with a 70 on the second day of the ECAC Championship, placing him in seventh place.
As for the other Violets, sophomore Matt Riccio averaged a 78.8 score while recording six top-20 finishes. Junior Ben Kleiner (79.1 avg.) had a strong effort early in the season with an eighth-place finish at the Williams College Invitational, which earned him a UAA Athlete of the Week honor.
Off the course, the Violets were equally successful as four players garnered UAA Spring Sport All-Academic honors.
