Editor’s note: This is one of a group of stories from students in Professor Michael Mudrick’s class and as part of a project celebrating Division 3 athletes.

By Zack Seigel

DURING his junior year of high school, Nathan Myers participated in a district-level golf tournament. Heading into the 15th hole, Myers had a massive lead, but that lead was quickly diminished after double bogeying the hole.

Over the next three or four holes, he eventually lost the lead and ended the day in second place, losing only by a stroke.

After that tournament loss, he looked to better himself and win it all the next year, but then COVID-19 happened. Alas, Myers was unable to achieve his goal of winning states but there was a positive outcome of not being able to play in the tournament the following year. He found his love for the sport.

Myers’ story isn’t your regular rags-to-riches story nor is it a feel-good narrative where he heroically overcomes a tragedy, but a story about a kid from near Allentown, Pennsylvania, who’s now playing a sport collegiately that he hadn’t even touched until high school.

“When I got to high school, my freshman year is when I really started taking it seriously. Golf and soccer as I had to choose between going into high school as they’re both fall sports and I was like, I just want to play golf,” Myers says. “In soccer, there’s politics in all high schools, coaches having favorites, coach’s kid, and in golf, you shoot a score, that’s your score, there’s no judgment, it’s completely objective, and being at where it isn’t even a team, it’s me I can do what I can do, and it’s my fault when I mess up, it’s my advantage when I do well and everything’s riding on me and I can control my own destiny.”

Myers is one of the newest members of the golf team at York College of Pennsylvania. The freshman was able to pick up golf so quickly due to his abundance of playing sports while he was younger. He also inherited a couple of traits from some family members who played beyond the college level.

“My grandpa on my mom’s side, he played minor league baseball, and he was just very good at every sport,” Myers says. “He could pick up a golf club and for the first time just hit it perfectly. Played baseball, played basketball and he was a little smaller than everyone else, but it didn’t matter size didn’t matter so, at a young age my freshman year in high school, I was only 5-foot-2 and just hearing his story and how he’s so short and he was undersized and how the coaches kind of doubted him inspired me to see myself doing it.”

Another major influence on Myers’ athletic career is his mother.

“I’m not at all surprised that Nate is a college athlete. Sports have always been a big part of his life, Myers’ mother says. “I recognized the potential and dedication in him at an early age to take his athletic passions to a higher level.”

Losing districts for Myers’ was a major turning point in his career. During the pandemic, he started playing more golf, as it was one of the few sports that you could still play during that time.

He eventually got better and started to reach out to college coaches, to see if anyone would give him a shot. He then landed on coach Eric Stauffer and the York Spartans and started his collegiate golfing career.

“The coaches and the community here at York – the players, the team chemistry that we have, the fun that the team has together. It’s not just about golf, it’s about having fun and building relationships and really getting to know everyone on the team,” Myers says. “York was the first college that I had a connection with. My dad grew up in York and it was just a culmination of everything that led me to choose York, so in the end, just the players and the coaches were all great here.”

Myers looks to continue the season strong his freshman year. He’s played in one tournament event, where he finished 13 over, which placed him 13th overall.

He plans on completing his degree in sports management and his minor in accounting as well. With Myers having three years of eligibility left, he will look to better himself as a golfer and to “have the team win a national championship.”

Zach Seigel is a junior Sport Management major from Elkton, Maryland, and a transfer student from Cecil College.

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