By Kade Kahanek | After a revamp of the HPU Men’s Golf program in 2015, the program has been on a steady roll to new heights.
Andrew Errico, senior captain has been on the team since the beginning. Errico’s freshman year, he gained the nickname, “Ole Boy,” after his roommate called him that on the first day they met.
“To this day, many of my friends still call me Ole Boy,” said Errico.
He gained many lifelong friends from the game of golf since he was little. Through struggle and strife, Errico witnessed the program evolve into a top contender for his last triumph.
Errico, native of Fort Worth, was one of fourteen newcomers to kick off the revived HPU Golf program. He is now the only remaining athlete that was originally on the 2015-2016 golf team. The past two seasons has been a positive turn around for Errico because he increased his average round score from an 80 to 77, making him the team leader in average score per round.
After Errico’s first year playing golf at HPU, he recruited his lifelong companion, Reed Shelley, to join the Men’s Golf team. Reed played golf his freshman year at Southwestern Christian University in Oklahoma City. Errico and Shelley are both top players of HPU’s roster.
Errico and Shelley agreed that the biggest aspect in growing the program from 2015 to 2019 was the coaching.
“As the program grew, we as players got better as well as the coaching,” said Errico. “I think that has been our advantage in tournaments.”
Shelley agreed, “I think improvement through practice and dedication has made our program what it is today.”
From an individual standpoint, Errico sees a chance to be better.
“I needed to focus more on my mental game more than anything—smart golf wins tournaments,” he said.
Shelley and Errico both want to finish in a top spot at the conference tournament. Errico’s main individual goal is to have a low scoring average of 77 and Shelley’s is to win a tournament. Shelley also set a goal to beat Concordia.
“I always wanted to beat Concordia,” said Shelley. “They always did better than us and this season that will change.”
Beating Letourneau is a goal Errico expressed, calling it “The Battle of the Yellow Jackets.”
“For me, I hate it when LeTourneau beats us, they’re not better than us,” said Errico.
There is only one semester left to fulfill their goals and to put the HPU Yellow Jackets on top again. The HPU Men’s golf team has improved since 2015 and will continue on the right track this season.