PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Scarlet Knights men's golf team is geared up and ready to kick off the 2023 spring season.

The team will open up with Big Ten match play on Feb. 4 from Palm Beach, Florida on Friday for a two-day event closing on Feb. 4. The spring season will consist of six events concluding with the Big Ten Championships in Galloway, New Jersey. RU will also host a special event in Sea Island, Georgia called the The Johnnie-O at Sea Island on March 13.

Head coach Rob Shutte is in the midst of his 12^th year at the helm of the program and is excited about the competitiveness of the group. 

"It's a really exciting time for men's golf," Shutte said. "We have a great and talented group of guys. This is one of my favorite teams. Eight guys who are really getting along great and working hard for each other. That's really what you want. Golf is a sport where it's hard to control everything, but I feel like it's all right out in front of us. We are playing a bunch of great and familiar courses and all of the boxes are checked for us to have a great spring campaign."

The team has been on the rise for many years and was very competitive in the fall season. The three seniors on the eight-man squad are the trio of team captains in Xavier Marcoux, Luke Wells and Brendan Hansen. The leadership and expereince of the captains has been welcomed by the roster.

"We had so many great individual moments in the fall to see that the depth is there with this team," Shutte said. "There should be some great opportunities for the team to win. Xavier and Luke have really been staples in our lineup and Brendan has been a leader of our group. I always hear that you need to get old and stale with senior leadership and we certainly have that."


Senior Xavier Marcoux

Marcoux, the Canada native is one of the most talented Scarlet Knights, who was a 2022-23 Big Ten Player to Watch at the beginning of the fall. Marcoux finished in first place individually at the Old Town Collegiate, fueled by a final round 65 (-5) in the fall.

Marcoux looks for a second-straight PING All-Region Team Selection and looks to lead the charge alongside teammate Luke Wells.

"It's been a long three and a half years here going through COVID-19 and everything," Marcoux said. "Through all of that I feel like our program has made so many big steps. This year we have a very mature group. As a captain as a junior, I felt like we were really young and now I feel like it's time for us to turn the corner. We have a lot of good things to look forward to. We look good top-to-bottom. Everyone has a chance to play. No one has their spot safe. Everyone has to go out to practice and fight hard every day. That's how I got better as a freshman with great seniors to look up to."

Marcoux credetied his head coach for his steady improvement over his four years at Rutgers and looks to take off running this spring.

Wells another 2022-23 Big Ten Player to Watch, has started in all of his 69 events with the program so far.

"It's an honor to be voted by my teammates to be a captain," Wells said. "I try to lead by example with my actions and my words to help all my teammates get better. That title really means a lot to me."
Wells and Marcoux are usually using the compeition with each other on the golf course to get better individually and collectively for the Scarlet Knights. The two seniors have become the best of friends through their time on the banks.

"It means a lot to be so close to Xavier," Wells said. "We played together once in the Junior Championships in 2017 and our careers went totally different ways. Now in 2023 we are so similar and he's my best friend out there. Our paths have aligned and are so similar. Every day we compete and that has been so great for both of us."

"We're very competitive and we bring that with each other on and off the golf course," Marcoux said. "We push each other to keep going. Extra practice and extra everything, it's been a great relationship."

Wells has big team goals for the upcoming spring for himself and his teammates.

"I expect this team to be able to compete to win in any event we play in this spring," Wells said. "I think this is the deepest team I have been on so far at Rutgers. A lot of teams are having success here on the banks and I want the next team to win a Big Ten Championship to be men's golf."

The roster features a pair of juniors in transfer Noah Kumar, who came from Florida Southern prior to the 2022-23 season and 2022-23 Big Ten Player to Watch Rhett Sellers.


Juniors Rhett Sellers and Noah Kumar

"Our young players are very talented, and they have a lot of potential," Wells said. "There are so many things that go into hitting a golf ball in terms of recovery and time management. I pride myself in being able to get them on the right path right away. I want to help them in every aspect of golf so we can all be successful."

Marcoux said that sophomore Weston Jones has been practicing during the entire break and that he looks great right now. He called freshman James Newton "explosive" and thinks freshman Logan Paczewski can improve a lot during his freshmen season.

Wells said that his greatest strength as a golfer is consistency, and he hopes to bring that to the team this spring. Marcoux is looking to win a team championship this spring a RU.
 
"I want to make nationals with the team, but if not individually," Marcoux said. "After that one win it makes you want to do it over and over again. As much as an individual win would be great, there would be nothing like a team win here at Rutgers."


Freshmen Logan Paczewski and James Newton