By: By Stayson Isobe
For Manhattan College men's golf senior Colby Norton, it boils down to the mental side of the game.
"Coach (Keith) Prokop came in and emphasized the mental game of golf, which really hit home for me as I didn't realize how much I lacked a good mental game before," Norton said. "Getting new drills to do, especially the putting drills from inside nine feet helped me hole more putts."
The arrival of head coach Keith Prokop prior to the 2022-23 season coincided with a big breakthrough in Norton's performance on the course.
After playing in just three events as a true freshman, Norton solidified a spot in the Jaspers lineup as a sophomore, playing in 11 tournaments. He recorded two top 20 finishes and ended his second year with a bang, finishing as the top Jasper at the 2022 MAAC Championship in a tie for 29th.
What followed, with Prokop in the picture, was one of the best seasons by a Manhattan men's golfer in three decades.
Norton lowered his season average to 75.88, with a versus par scoring average of 4.75, which was the program's fourth-best since 1993-94. Norton logged the best par 4 scoring average (4.251) and best par 5 scoring average (4.90) by a Jasper in 30 years – and Norton attributed it all to maintaining his focus through the natural ebbs and flows in a round of 18 holes.
"Between my sophomore and junior years, my mental game changed and I had better quality in my practice and drills," Norton said. "Reflecting on what I do right and wrong on the course helped me better my shots. My short game, especially my chipping, improved a ton when I needed to make big par saves."
Norton has carried over his success into his senior season heading into his final MAAC Championship this weekend at Disney's Golf Course in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Norton has four top 20 finishes, including a career-best seventh place showing in the team's fall season finale, the Metropolitan Championship, last October.
Earlier this month, Norton won all three of his matches, which helped Manhattan go 2-1 in the match play South Jersey Kickoff with victories over Monmouth and Saint Peter's.
"My game is headed in the right direction leading up to the MAAC Championship, but there is still a lot of little things to clean up in my game because you need your best stuff when going down to Disney," Norton said. "Match play is always fun and it felt great to get three points for the team at the South Jersey Kickoff. Playing one-on-one with other teams gets competitive and it was great for the team to have a winning record after the tournament."
Norton is confident that the team's recent success will translate into another move up the MAAC Championship standings this year.
After placing ninth two years ago, Manhattan improved to seventh last year in Prokup's first conference championship at the head of the Jaspers program.
"The team is definitely read to make another big jump this year at the MAAC Championship," Norton said. "We ended our fall season with a second-place finish at the Metropolitan Collegiate, so we know what it's like to play with pressure and be near the top of the leaderboard. We have a fairly young team, so all of the underclassmen got a great experience on what it takes to play well in college golf tournaments."
With seven underclassmen, including six freshmen, on the team's 12-golfer roster, Norton is one of five seniors who are relied on to provide leadership.
"Having six new freshmen come in this year, it has been great to talk to them about the experience I've had and give them advice on how to get better," Norton said. "We are a very close team and showing the newcomers what it is like to be part of a team that is close knit and carry the traditions from the players who have graduated before me is cool. We play the same courses a lot for tournaments, so I try to give them helpful information about the course and what to expect."
For Norton, the MAAC Championship will represent the end of his career as a Jasper. Graduating with a degree in business, Norton will begin his role as an assistant golf professional at Baker Hill Golf Club in New Hampshire this summer.
But first, is Norton's final go-around at Disney, where he hopes to leave his final imprint on the Manhattan College men's golf program. There, he'll have his two biggest fans, who have been alongside him on his journey the last four years.
"My parents try to make to the tournaments close to home and they come to Disney for the MAAC Championship every year," Norton said of his parents, Kevin and Carolyn. "Having them there is great and they have always been my biggest supporters. It always gives me a little push to do better that day and try to focus as much as I can on every shot. Seeing them after a bad shot or hole definitely keeps my head up."
Being mentally dialed in on the golf course changed the game for Norton. Having his parents' support though, that provides a boost as well.
