Michael Hay, former captain of the men’s golf team, graduated from NSU in May 2024 as an exercise and sport science major. He was named as the Sunshine State Conference Golfer of the Year for the 2023-24 season. This comes after Hay was named the individual champion at the 2024 SSC Men’s Golf Championship in April.
“I finished third and fourth in that event in the last couple of years, and was close to winning. So to finally win this year was a pretty good feeling,” Hay said.
NSU competed against several other universities at the championship, including Barry University, Lynn University, Florida Southern College and Saint Leo University.
Hay practiced on the golf course prior to the event with his team.
“I don’t think I would be in the same position I am now if I didn’t come to Nova. The knowledge from the coaches and everyone else in the Athletic Department has been great,” Hay said.
Joey Marino, head men’s golf coach, met Hay before he came to NSU as a freshman. Marino agrees Hay has significantly improved during his time at NSU.
“He’s probably one of the better men’s golfers to ever play in this program,” Marino said. “He’s definitely going to be in the NSU Athletics Hall of Fame one day.”
Originally from England, Hay has played golf with his dad since he was young. He plans to play amateur events and eventually go pro.
“When I first came to Nova, I thought I was better than I was, but playing college golf and realizing that there are people that are better than you, it kind of brings you back down to Earth,” Hay said. “There will always be someone better than you out there, but if you put in the work you can get there. The experience overall has definitely matured me more.”
Marino has no doubt that Hay will play professionally one day.
“Mike has a tremendous amount of patience on the golf course, which is something that we kind of always preached here. Try to stay patient out there and keep your emotions relaxed. And I think Mike’s done that to a really, really high ability out of any player that I’ve ever had. He’s been incredible with it,” Marino said.
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