Matt Begg and Davis Kittsley spent a lot of time on the greens this summer, which is exactly where you’d expect to find the senior captains of the Foxes boys golf team. In the offseason, the athletes sprinkled their schedules with tournaments, worked on their own games, and now are guiding the team with strong leadership.
Head coach Joe Farrell praises his captains for understanding the importance of patience and practice.
“They are calm and patient with the kids who are younger,” says coach Farrell. “They are just really good leaders of getting the kids ready and prepared for what they’re going to face. With a young team like mine, they are irreplaceable.”
Matt and Davis have a lot in common: experience, maturity, and the ability to maintain their composure under pressure. They also share a keen awareness of the program’s historic excellence and feel a responsibility to continue that legacy. The Foxes captured the section championship on September 10 with a victory over Shaler Area.
“I don’t even know the last time was when we had a losing season,” says Matt, a tri-sport athlete who has golfed for years but only began playing competitively last season as a junior. One of his top goals is to teach his teammates, especially the younger golfers, about how to stay calm when they don’t hit their best shots and panic sets in.
Matt explains his leadership style: “I try to build them up and let them know that it’s not the end of the world if you hit a bad shot. Some players get so caught up in a bad shot that they can’t recover for the next one. I’ve learned that not every shot is as bad as you think, and there’s always time to make up for it.”
In the past year, Matt says he’s improved his own mental game, but it’s been a process. He’s had help along the way by watching and talking with his brother Andrew, a 2023 alum who played for the Foxes and golfs for John Carroll University. Andrew started last year as a freshman on his college team but is studying abroad this year and will miss the season.
“I’ve learned there’s only so much practicing you can do,” Matt says. “After that, it’s all about determination.”
Davis, who advanced to the 2023 WPIAL Class 4A individual championships, likes to help his teammates with decision-making. He explains, “I like to help them think through how they are playing. There are times when you can choose to hit a risky shot to drive your own score, but for the sake of the team, it might be better to take a safer route. I try to be there to help my teammates with those kinds of decisions.”
Davis adds, “We hope to give other teams a hard time this season. We have a really talented group, and we all want to be leaders as individuals and as a team to become WPIAL champions. Our competition this year won’t come from other teams but from our own players.”