Lehigh University Athletics
Senior Spotlight: Men's Golf
4/15/2020 11:18:00 AM | Men's Golf
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Over the coming weeks, Lehighsports.com is paying tribute to all of our senior student-athletes who did not have a Senior Day. Hear from the men's golf seniors in the below question and answer, and head coach Henry D'Alberto in the above video.
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Ryan Kelly – Annapolis, Md. – Finance
What's your favorite Lehigh Golf memory?
RK: My favorite memory is probably our team win at the Wildcat Invitational my freshman year. It was the program's first team win since 2013 and we all closed strong to win by a small margin. We also won our home tournament my sophomore year by 16 which was fun.
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What legacy do you hope you're leaving?
RK: I hope I set a good example. The core of our team did not change very much my first three years, but this year we had five freshmen so it was very important for Owen and I to set a good example of what a Lehigh golfer should be so the program can have success going forward. I hope we did a good job of that.Â
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Describe the relationship with your fellow senior.
RK: I think Owen and I have been in the starting lineup for every event since we got to Lehigh so we have shared a lot of experiences and spent a lot of time with each other. We will always be linked through that. Owen is a very spirited person who has a lot of passion for the golf program and Lehigh in general which I admire.
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How have you acclimated to the "new normal" with everything happening in the world? Â
RK: The first few days were rough because of the finality of the decision and how fast it all happened. But I have tried not to dwell on it and stay positive. It's a freakish and unfortunate situation that everyone is affected by in a number of different ways.
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What will you miss most about Lehigh Golf?
RK: I will miss the camaraderie of the teams I was a part of. As I mentioned before, our roster composition did not change very much my first three years so we really bonded as a team and had a lot of fun. Getting to know the incoming freshman and building relationships with them was also great. Golf can be very fickle, frustrating, and stressful so the ups and downs that came with that weren't always fun but the friendships that I took from Lehigh Golf will last a very long time.
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Thinking about where you were three years ago to now, how has the Lehigh student-athlete experience helped you grow as a person?
RK: The Lehigh student-athlete experience has helped me develop skills such as responsibility, work ethic, leadership, self-control, time management, and many others. It's definitely been a catalyst for growth.
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What are your postgraduate plans?Â
RK: I am currently looking for a job in finance around DC or Baltimore, which are both areas close to my hometown of Annapolis, Md.Â
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Owen Quinn – Holden, Mass. – Accounting
What's your favorite Lehigh Golf memory?
OQ: My favorite Lehigh Golf memory was winning Villanova's tournament as a team in the spring of my freshman year. In golf, you do not get to experience team success too often because it is such an individual sport. Individual success is great, and it is what you have to focus on in golf because that is the only thing you can control. But when it all comes together and the team is able to come out victorious it is an awesome feeling. I did not play my personal best that week, but I still remember hitting a 3-iron over water onto the green in two shots on the par 5 17th hole in the final round and making birdie when we needed it.
What legacy do you hope you're leaving?
I hope to leave a legacy of working hard to be the best that I could be, but doing so by bringing positivity and excitement to a sport that can sometimes lack the thrill factor. Over my four years, I had so much fun with my teammates and everyone in the Lehigh community. I tried to bring excitement to all parts of my Lehigh experience, whether that was in practice with my team or cheering on other teams. I hope that legacy lives on and people see that you can succeed in your own goals while helping others to do so as well.
Describe the relationship with your fellow senior.
OQ: RK and I have gone through this whole ride together and he has been awesome to share it with. We've shared very similar work ethics with golf and have pushed each other day in and day out. We have had friendly competitions when we are playing which has been so beneficial to being ready to go when tournament time comes around. I'm thankful to have shared it with RK and am going to miss him.
Â
How have you acclimated to the "new normal" with everything happening in the world? Â
OQ: It has undoubtedly been a crazy couple of weeks in the world to say the least. When it was first announced that our senior season and senior semester at Lehigh were cancelled, I was crushed. I have had my successes in college golf, but I feel like I had so much left to achieve that I had previously fallen just short of that I wanted to accomplish this spring. It has been interesting getting adjusted to remote learning and being isolated in my house all day, but trying to keep myself busy with my family. In the days following the cancellation, we were all able to see the severity of the circumstance and it surely seems the cancellations had to happen.
Â
What will you miss most about Lehigh Golf?Â
OQ: I will miss a lot about this program. I have grown so much both in golf and as a person from this experience. I will miss seeing Coach D'Alberto and Coach Z everyday, and will miss our fun loving bickering back and forth. I will miss the competing in practice, pushing each other to be the best we can be and having a lot of laughs in doing so. Most of all, I will miss the tournament trips. You get to know your other teammates so well on the away trips, and being able to encourage each other before and after tournament rounds is something I'll never forget.
Â
Thinking about where you were three years ago to now, how has the Lehigh student-athlete experience helped you grow as a person?
OQ: I owe so much to the Lehigh student-athlete experience. When I got to Lehigh as a freshman, I was a small, nervous, and really quiet kid. It is funny to look back at it because it is just so different that who I am now. I have grown into someone who has not been afraid to voice my opinion, or lead a group, and venture outside my comfort zone. When I first arrived at Lehigh, if you told me that I would speak in front of the whole athlete body at Convocation or be the crazy fan in the crowd at a basketball game, I would've thought you were insane. But I have had so much fun doing it all at Lehigh and there are so many people I need to thank for what they did for me here. I wouldn't trade my student-athlete experience here for anything.
Â
What are your postgraduate plans?Â
OQ: With the abrupt ending of our year, my postgraduate plans are very up in the air. Once the NCAA comes out with their complete list of regulations of eligibility relief for spring athletes, I will have a much better idea. With that said, I am hoping to play another year of college golf. I feel there is a lot I want to accomplish and I hope I get the chance to do so. I am planning to pursue a career in professional golf, whether that is this year or following a fifth academic year. It has been a dream of mine since I was young, and I want to see what I can do. I have been fortunate enough to watch my Dad go through the professional golf career his whole life, and I am ready for what it will throw at me.
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Ryan Kelly – Annapolis, Md. – Finance
What's your favorite Lehigh Golf memory?
RK: My favorite memory is probably our team win at the Wildcat Invitational my freshman year. It was the program's first team win since 2013 and we all closed strong to win by a small margin. We also won our home tournament my sophomore year by 16 which was fun.
Â
What legacy do you hope you're leaving?
RK: I hope I set a good example. The core of our team did not change very much my first three years, but this year we had five freshmen so it was very important for Owen and I to set a good example of what a Lehigh golfer should be so the program can have success going forward. I hope we did a good job of that.Â
Â
Describe the relationship with your fellow senior.
RK: I think Owen and I have been in the starting lineup for every event since we got to Lehigh so we have shared a lot of experiences and spent a lot of time with each other. We will always be linked through that. Owen is a very spirited person who has a lot of passion for the golf program and Lehigh in general which I admire.
Â
How have you acclimated to the "new normal" with everything happening in the world? Â
RK: The first few days were rough because of the finality of the decision and how fast it all happened. But I have tried not to dwell on it and stay positive. It's a freakish and unfortunate situation that everyone is affected by in a number of different ways.
Â
What will you miss most about Lehigh Golf?
RK: I will miss the camaraderie of the teams I was a part of. As I mentioned before, our roster composition did not change very much my first three years so we really bonded as a team and had a lot of fun. Getting to know the incoming freshman and building relationships with them was also great. Golf can be very fickle, frustrating, and stressful so the ups and downs that came with that weren't always fun but the friendships that I took from Lehigh Golf will last a very long time.
  Â
Thinking about where you were three years ago to now, how has the Lehigh student-athlete experience helped you grow as a person?
RK: The Lehigh student-athlete experience has helped me develop skills such as responsibility, work ethic, leadership, self-control, time management, and many others. It's definitely been a catalyst for growth.
Â
What are your postgraduate plans?Â
RK: I am currently looking for a job in finance around DC or Baltimore, which are both areas close to my hometown of Annapolis, Md.Â
Â
Â
Owen Quinn – Holden, Mass. – Accounting
What's your favorite Lehigh Golf memory?
OQ: My favorite Lehigh Golf memory was winning Villanova's tournament as a team in the spring of my freshman year. In golf, you do not get to experience team success too often because it is such an individual sport. Individual success is great, and it is what you have to focus on in golf because that is the only thing you can control. But when it all comes together and the team is able to come out victorious it is an awesome feeling. I did not play my personal best that week, but I still remember hitting a 3-iron over water onto the green in two shots on the par 5 17th hole in the final round and making birdie when we needed it.
What legacy do you hope you're leaving?
I hope to leave a legacy of working hard to be the best that I could be, but doing so by bringing positivity and excitement to a sport that can sometimes lack the thrill factor. Over my four years, I had so much fun with my teammates and everyone in the Lehigh community. I tried to bring excitement to all parts of my Lehigh experience, whether that was in practice with my team or cheering on other teams. I hope that legacy lives on and people see that you can succeed in your own goals while helping others to do so as well.
Describe the relationship with your fellow senior.
OQ: RK and I have gone through this whole ride together and he has been awesome to share it with. We've shared very similar work ethics with golf and have pushed each other day in and day out. We have had friendly competitions when we are playing which has been so beneficial to being ready to go when tournament time comes around. I'm thankful to have shared it with RK and am going to miss him.
Â
How have you acclimated to the "new normal" with everything happening in the world? Â
OQ: It has undoubtedly been a crazy couple of weeks in the world to say the least. When it was first announced that our senior season and senior semester at Lehigh were cancelled, I was crushed. I have had my successes in college golf, but I feel like I had so much left to achieve that I had previously fallen just short of that I wanted to accomplish this spring. It has been interesting getting adjusted to remote learning and being isolated in my house all day, but trying to keep myself busy with my family. In the days following the cancellation, we were all able to see the severity of the circumstance and it surely seems the cancellations had to happen.
Â
What will you miss most about Lehigh Golf?Â
OQ: I will miss a lot about this program. I have grown so much both in golf and as a person from this experience. I will miss seeing Coach D'Alberto and Coach Z everyday, and will miss our fun loving bickering back and forth. I will miss the competing in practice, pushing each other to be the best we can be and having a lot of laughs in doing so. Most of all, I will miss the tournament trips. You get to know your other teammates so well on the away trips, and being able to encourage each other before and after tournament rounds is something I'll never forget.
Â
Thinking about where you were three years ago to now, how has the Lehigh student-athlete experience helped you grow as a person?
OQ: I owe so much to the Lehigh student-athlete experience. When I got to Lehigh as a freshman, I was a small, nervous, and really quiet kid. It is funny to look back at it because it is just so different that who I am now. I have grown into someone who has not been afraid to voice my opinion, or lead a group, and venture outside my comfort zone. When I first arrived at Lehigh, if you told me that I would speak in front of the whole athlete body at Convocation or be the crazy fan in the crowd at a basketball game, I would've thought you were insane. But I have had so much fun doing it all at Lehigh and there are so many people I need to thank for what they did for me here. I wouldn't trade my student-athlete experience here for anything.
Â
What are your postgraduate plans?Â
OQ: With the abrupt ending of our year, my postgraduate plans are very up in the air. Once the NCAA comes out with their complete list of regulations of eligibility relief for spring athletes, I will have a much better idea. With that said, I am hoping to play another year of college golf. I feel there is a lot I want to accomplish and I hope I get the chance to do so. I am planning to pursue a career in professional golf, whether that is this year or following a fifth academic year. It has been a dream of mine since I was young, and I want to see what I can do. I have been fortunate enough to watch my Dad go through the professional golf career his whole life, and I am ready for what it will throw at me.
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/ Men's Golf
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