After a tough start to the season, the golf team has been, in the words of Head Coach Mr. Stephen Cloran, “extraordinary.”
“Great leadership, improved play on the course. Everything came together. We accomplished some extraordinary things,” Coach Cloran said.
Coming off of last season, the team roster remained largely unchanged. “We lost three seniors so the team remained almost the same,” Coach Cloran said.
Still, one thing has changed for Haverford Golf this year: the team’s mindset. At the beginning of the season, a motivational speaker addressed the team. He explained the concept of the “Challenge Circle”: in the innermost ring is the challenge. In the next ring is fear, then, anger, and then, defeat. The goal is to mentally stay in the innermost circle.
“We have been able to stay in the right mindset through the ups and downs of our rounds. Personally, staying ‘inside the challenge circle’ has allowed me to bring a higher level of focus to competitions,” Sixth Form co-captain Harrison Brown said.
“The ‘challenge circle’ is really good for when you aren’t having a bad day but are just two or three over par. It helps me keep myself in contention,” Sixth Former co-captain J.P. Hoban.
The second mental tool that Coach Cloran has implemented is categorizing types of shots. “We talked about four types of shots: great, good, good enough, and bad shots. We want to flush the bad shots and erase it from our mind,” Coach Cloran said. “We’re not always going to hit great. Don’t have to be great with every shot. Don’t let one shot hurt you.”
This season, the team’s cohesiveness and the application of a new mindset has paid off. The team reversed the results of the second Inter-Ac play, taking first. They then battled through St. Joe’s twice, Conestoga, and barely lost to Springside Chestnut Hill by only four strokes.
Already on a two-game winning streak, the golfers then cleaned their next five matches, powering through The Union League, an EA-hosted Inter-Ac Play, Hill School, another Inter-Ac Play, and then Holy Ghost, before falling narrowly to Malvern. This led them to a 5-1 Inter-Ac Record, the best by far. Along the way, Haverford set the Inter-Ac score record.
In their penultimate match of the season, the team came ready to the PAISAA tournament at Radnor. Continuing their streak of dominance, they bulldozed to a win, with Fifth Former Sean Curran coming in first, Hoban in second, and Fifth Former Will Forman tying for third. Curran took home the championship with an impressive 67 strokes.
Not just one player is performing well—everyone has been extraordinary
Coach stephen cloran
“Not just one player is performing well—everyone has been extraordinary,” Coach Cloran said. “But Sean Curran… has been a little bit more than extraordinary. Sean Curran had the lowest scoring average in the league, most wins, and won MVP.”
Now, the team turns its focus to EA Day. Despite their 5-1 record, Haverford recognizes that Episcopal Academy will be a strong foe.
“We are all looking forward to EA Day, and we are very confident in our chances of winning. Despite this confidence, we know that EA has a very strong team,” Hoban said. “We need to play our best golf in order to win.”
“We have had the mindset that if we don’t win EA Day all of our previous accomplishments go away,” Hoban said. “I can confidently say that we are all locked in and ready to play our best golf.”
