Malcolm Oliver was a big deal when he played at Lincoln Academy, winning the Class B individual golf championship in the fall of 2011 as a senior, but didn’t know how that would translate to college.
“It was such a different level of golf, I didn’t know what to expect,” said Oliver, now a senior at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. “I’ve done more than what I thought (I would do). Once it clicked, and I realized I belonged here and could play at this level, it gave me the confidence to do what I did.”
When Oliver graduates from Bentley on May 21 with a degree in economics and finance, he will leave as “by far the best golfer that Bentley has ever had,” according to his coach, Mickey Herron.
And Herron, also the New England PGA tournament manager for Cape Cod and Rhode Island, has been around golf long enough to know what he’s talking about.
Oliver has won six tournaments in the last two years, including four this year. He won back-to-back championships in the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association, becoming the first golfer to do that since former PGA pro Jim Hallet won five consecutive titles when the tournament was held in both the fall and spring in the early 1980s. Oliver’s 73.3 stroke average is best in school history and second-best in the NCAA Division II East Region.
“The last two years, Malcolm’s gotten to the next level, and that’s sort of illustrated by his six wins in two years,” said Herron. “That’s sort of unparalleled in New England college golf in any division.
“That’s what getting to the next level really means. He expects to win if he plays his game.”
Oliver, who is from Damariscotta, learned to play from his father Leon, the head pro at Bath Golf Course, but has refined his game under Herron. Oliver still turns to his dad when he wants to work on his swing – “My swing is basically built on everything he taught me,” he said – but Herron has helped him learn to manage his game.
“He showed me how to play,” said Oliver. “It’s all situational stuff, like playing to the easier part of the green. That takes out a lot of big numbers. He taught me the strategy of how to play a course.”
Herron said Oliver had a lot of natural ability coming into college.
“With us it’s more about swing maintenance and certainly mental golf management,” said Herron. “What Malcolm has done is he’s learned how to win in four years. He had a lot of close calls in his freshman and sophomore years which were, at the moment, hard to take for him. Once he broke through, the dam sort of broke. Even when he doesn’t win, he’s finished in the top five.”
The most impressive wins, of course, were in the NEIGA championships, which include golfers from all three NCAA divisions. The tournament has featured 37 teams and more than 180 golfers in each of the last two years, both won by Oliver. This year, he battled back with a 5-under 67 at the Captains Golf Course in Brewster, Massachusetts, to win by two strokes.
“He beat a lot of really, really good golfers,” said Herron. “That cannot be understated. When you beat 185 kids two years in a row, then you have definitely gotten to the next level.”
Oliver, 21, hopes to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a PGA pro. He’ll continue to play this summer while he enters the program to become a club pro.
But first there is one more collegiate level Oliver wants to reach – the NCAA championships, which will be held May 16-21 in Denver. Oliver has yet to qualify, finishing seventh in the NCAA East/Atlantic Regional each of the last two years. The top five teams in each 20-team region advance to the NCAA championships – Bentley is ranked fifth in the East this year entering the regionals at Timber Banks Golf Club in Syracuse on May 2-4 – along with the top three individual scorers whose teams do not qualify. Oliver has missed by one stroke each year.
“We have a chance to make it as a team and obviously I’d rather go as a team,” said Oliver.
No matter what happens, however, Herron said Oliver has set a high standard for future Falcons.
“He was a quiet kid, but when he spoke, people listened,” said Herron. “He was a good student, had the respect of his teammates (who voted him captain this year). He’s an easy kid to root for.”
BASEBALL
University of Southern Maine freshman pitcher/infielder Jake Dexter of Oakland (Messalonskee) was named Little East Conference rookie of the week. Dexter earned three wins in three relief appearances, pitching six shutout innings and striking out six. He also had a double and three walks in eight plate appearances.
LACROSSE
Endicott College senior goalie Cameron Bell of Falmouth was named Commonwealth Coast Conference men’s defensive player of the week. Bell made 10 saves in a victory over Wentworth that was his 48th career win, tying him for the top spot on the Gulls’ career list. Earlier in the week he had 20 saves in an overtime loss to No. 3 Tufts.
• University of New England freshman midfielder Mitch Mullen of Cumberland (Greely) was named CCC men’s rookie of the week. He scored six goals in two games for the Nor’easters, who went 1-1.
• UNE freshman midfielder Korinne Bohunsky of Eliot (Marshwood) was named CCC women’s rookie of the week. She scored seven goals and had 16 draw controls as the Nor’easters won two games.
• Bentley senior attack Kelsey Howard of Scarborough had five goals and two assists for a career-high seven points in a recent 16-7 win over Southern New Hampshire. Howard leads the 18th-ranked Falcons in scoring with 29 goals and 11 assists.
• St. Joseph’s College senior goalie Michelle Cunha of Enfield, Connecticut, was named Great Northeast Athletic Conference women’s goalkeeper of the week. She made 23 saves in two victories with a 7.50 goals-against average.
• Freshman midfielder Sarah Myers of Yarmouth is one of the top defensive players for Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Myers is tied for the team lead with 30 ground balls and leads the Missionaries with 18 caused turnovers. She also has three goals and one assist. Myers was recently named the Northwest Conference women’s defensive player of the week.
SOFTBALL
Gettysburg College sophomore utility player Mykaela Twitchell of Cumberland (Greely) is third on the team with a .368 batting average. Twitchell has hit three home runs, seven doubles and five triples while driving in 18 runs and scoring 27. The Bullets are 22-8.
TENNIS
USM senior Tyler Adams of Buxton (Bonny Eagle) was named LEC player of the week as he scored victories at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles in a 7-2 win over UMass-Dartmouth. Adams and junior Kyle Curley of Gorham had an 8-1 win at No.1 doubles, then Adams secured a 6-1, 6-2 win at No.1 singles. That gave him 33 consecutive victories at No. 1 singles since 2013.
TRACK & FIELD
USM freshman Sarah Maimone of Stoneham, Massachusetts, was named LEC women’s rookie track athlete of the week. Maimone won the 200 meters at the Panther Spring Invitational at Middlebury College in a personal-best 26.03 seconds. She also finished eighth in the pole vault and long jump.
• Bentley senior Tom Dean of Portland (Deering) and sophomore Ryan Cadorette of Saco (Thornton Academy) each ran a personal best in the 5,000 meters in the Silfen Invitational at Connecticut College last weekend. Cadorette finished in 15:05.81, in 16th place among 51 finishers, and Dean finished in 15:38.49, in 23rd place.
• Bates junior Allison Hill of Brunswick was named New England Small College Athletic Conference female track athlete of the week for the second consecutive week. Hill won the 100-meter hurdles at the UNH Wildcat Invitational in a school-record 14.57 seconds and tied the school record of 25.49 seconds in the 200 meters.
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