BY ADAM COULTER
Salina Post Contributor
The Sacred Heart golf team is preparing for another season and the goal of winning a ninth straight state championship.
The Knights have won a total of nine state golf titles beginning in 1997, and have won eight straight since 2015, with the lone exception of the canceled 2020 Covid season.
Sacred Heart returns five golfers from last year’s team including Michael Matteucci, Hunter Newell, Luke Newell, Walker Tuttle, and Jason Marrs.
The rest of the roster consists of Dominic Matteucci, Luke Newell, Ethan Newell, Will Tuttle, Ben Marrs, Cody Burr, and Mason Brown.
Interestingly, the team includes four sets of brothers.
Patrick Newell is the head coach for the Knights and has been in that position since the 2021 season. Prior to his tenure at Sacred Heart, he was the Salina Central Head Boys Golf Coach from 2002-2020.
"Practices have been very competitive this spring," Coach Newell said. "We have a solid top four of Michael, Hunter, Luke, and Walker. Jason, Dominic, Ethan, Ben, Cody, Mason, and Dayne are all battling it out for the other two remaining varsity spots."
"Even though we are in 2A, we play a mainly 5A schedule and play against some of the top players in the state," Newell added. "Big tournaments are at Bishop Carroll, Hays, Dodge City, and Goddard Eisenhower along with Hutchinson which has a 36-team field and is the largest tournament in the state.
Coach Newell spoke on some of the individual golfers who are primed for big seasons again this year.
"Michael Matteucci is one of the most competitive golfers that I’ve coached," he said. "He is a multi-sport guy. He was starting quarterback for the football team and starting point guard for the basketball team. I have never seen such a tenacious appetite to succeed at everything that he does."
Last year, Matteucci was the individual champion at 2A regionals at the Salina Municipal Golf Course and he was the individual State 2A champion at Hesston. The senior intends to sign with Washburn to play golf for the Ichibods in the fall of 2024.
Hunter Newell was part of a three-way tie for 2nd at the 2A regional last year. Two years ago he played in the First Tee Senior PGA tournament at Pebble Beach with Senior PGA tour player Rocco Mediate. Newell is planning on playing golf at Kansas Wesleyan University.
Walker Tuttle tied Newell for 2nd at 2A Regionals last year and finished tied for 4th at 2A State last year.
Luke Newell finished as the third member tied for 2nd at 2A regionals last year, and went on to take 3rd place at the 2A state tournament.
Some of the players also shared their thoughts on the upcoming season.
"My individual goal for the season is to win at least one golf tournament during the regular season and to have a scoring average under 77," Hunter Newell said. "I believe that one of the team goals for the year is to win four to five tournaments in the regular season while winning League, Regionals, and State."
He continued, "The relationships that I have with my teammates and the relationship we all have is what has helped build the Sacred Heart golf dynasty in that we all share the love for golf and get better at it every day. We love being able to have fun on the course while knowing when it comes to tournaments, we have to dial in and be ready to help the team out by not giving up and staying with our scores."
Michael Matteucci's goals are to win at state as an individual, have the lowest scoring average of his four years, and win two tournaments.
As a team, the goals are to win state again, win multiple tournaments, and attempt to shoot a school-record-low score at a tournament.
"My relationship with my teammates is different from most people's," Matteucci said. "We have all been playing golf together since we were kids. We all get along great and always have a great time on road trips to tournaments or at our daily practices. This helps our team succeed."
"One of my individual goals this year is to shoot even par in a tournament," Walker Tuttle said, "We all have great relationships not only just on the golf course but also outside of practice. We play on the weekends and travel to play different courses to prepare for our tournaments. I think this helps our team's camaraderie and benefits us greatly."
"One of my individual goals this year is to improve my scoring average to 75 or below, and a major goal for me is to win state as a team and as an individual," Luke Newell said. As a team, we all build each other up and every day we look forward to competing and getting better. Being able to compete against each other and have the fire to try and beat each other every single day is what makes us such competitive and amazing golfers."
The Knights' first tournament and quest for another state championship begins on Friday at the Salina Municipal Golf Course.
In addition to Sacred Heart, the Invitational includes teams from Clay Center, Ell-Saline, Ellinwood, Ellsworth, Smith Center, and Southeast of Saline.