May 4, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina men’s golf head coach Bill McDonald knows this year’s grouping of seniors is a very special program-changing group.

“I’ve got three incredible seniors in Sean Kelly, Will Starke and Matt NeSmith,” the ninth-year head coach said. “They’re like sons to me. I’m going to miss them, and I want them to go out on a really good note.”

The trio of seniors came to South Carolina looking to place the men’s golf program among the nation’s elite, and with the Gamecocks set once again to be playing in the NCAA regionals they have done just that.

“It’s been a great run,” Starke said. “I think (coming in) freshman year we were not even top-100 and then we slowly worked our way up and we were in the top-5 most of the year last year, and then (we have been) in the top-20 pretty much every year. Being able to improve the program … we have a lot of memories and a lot of good times together that we’ll cherish.”

Last year, the Gamecocks put together one of the best campaigns in school history as they recorded a school-record five tournament titles and advanced to their third straight NCAA Championship appearance. The Gamecocks were ranked sixth in the final Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings of the year.

“It was an incredible year record-wise,” McDonald told Spurs & Feathers at the end of the year. “We set all kinds of records. We really had one of those special teams.”

This year has been much of the same for the Gamecocks as led by the trio of seniors they have won what is right now a program second-best four tournament titles.

What has taken place over the last few years under this senior group is not lost on McDonald, particularly since all came to the program in different ways.

“It’s such a long relationship you have with kids like this,” McDonald said. “We started recruiting Matt when he was in eighth grade. Sean’s dad and I were talking about the other night how six, seven years ago they were here for the (South Carolina)-Florida game and he committed right after and Tebow was playing (for Florida). I get chills when I think about all of this. Will ended up being here because one of my kids when we were recruiting Will decided not to come back for a fifth year, so that opened up a spot for him. I didn’t even have a spot for him at one point.”

A native of Staten Island, New York, Kelly came to South Carolina from Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School where he was a first-team All-American and ranked as one of the top 50 players in the American Junior Golf Association and Golfweek rankings.

Kelly arrived as noted by McDonald earlier than the other two before the 2011-12 season, and during his first year he was one of the top freshmen in the SEC. He has been a solid performer since arriving, and McDonald was particularly pleased with his efforts last season after he missed the previous year due to a wrist injury.

This spring sporting one of the top mustaches in all of college golf (really, athletics), Kelly has been playing great golf as he just recently finished in the top-10 individually at the SEC Championship.

Through it all, Kelly has been a force in the classroom. In addition to numerous academic honors from the SEC, last year Kelly was a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar.

A local product out of Chapin High School in Chapin, South Carolina, Starke prior to his arrival with the Gamecocks in the 2012-13 season was highly ranked by the Junior Golf Scoreboard. During his time before South Carolina he finished first at the prestigious Southern Cross Tournament in 2011.

During his sophomore year in the 2013-14 season, Starke really started to emerge as he won the Seahawk Intercollegiate for his inaugural college individual title.

During his junior year in the 2014-15 season, Starke was one of the best in all of college golf, earning Golfweek and Ping All-America accolades. His scoring average of 70.27 during the 2014-15 season is the single-season Gamecock record. Starke captured individual medalist honors at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate last year.

Starke has also been strong in the classroom where in addition to his numerous SEC accolades he was also a 2015 Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America scholar.

Ranked as the No. 1 junior golfer in the nation coming out of North Augusta High School in North Augusta, South Carolina, NeSmith could have followed his original childhood dream of going to Georgia. However, he chose the University of South Carolina.

But why? Why would the best player in the country turn down schools rich in tradition to go to South Carolina?

NeSmith said he wanted to be a part of a changing of the tide. He wanted to start a new tradition and put South Carolina on the map when it came to college golf.

NeSmith’s decision to come to South Carolina has more than paid off for him and the program.

The 2013 SEC Co-Freshman of the Year has garnered numerous SEC and All-America accolades since his arrival, and last year he became the second Gamecock to win an SEC individual title as he picked up a six-stroke win at the 2015 SEC Championship.

In total, NeSmith has four individual wins in his illustrious Gamecock career, including two this year as he won back-to-back individual medalist honors at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate in Aiken, South Carolina and the General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Just like Kelly and Starke, NeSmith has been just as strong in the classroom. In fact, like the other two, the 2015 SCGA Player of the Year was also a 2015 Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America scholar.

All three of the Gamecock seniors will be playing professional golf next year with Starke earning full exemption on the Mackenzie Tour (PGA TOUR Canada) after winning medalist honors in Q-School. NeSmith finished just behind Starke to earn exemption through the first shuffle, while Kelly tied for 17th to earn conditional status.

McDonald knows this trio of program-changing golfers are a rarity for their drive on and off the course, and he will be forever thankful they chose to come to the University of South Carolina.

“A lot of things have all come together,” McDonald said. “They’ve worked really hard. They’ve been Academic All-Americans as well as doing extremely well on the golf course. They’re a lot of fun to work with and to travel with. In college golf, you’re very intimate with your team in the sense of how you travel together and the amount of time you spend, so as a coach it’s just been an enjoyable experience all the way to back when we were recruiting them.”