Golfer aims to finish with flourish
FAIRBORN — Mikkel Mathiesen didn’t have his A game when Wright State played in the NCAA golf regionals in 2022. He probably didn’t even have his C-minus game.
He was coming off a record-setting performance in the Horizon League tourney a week earlier — shooting a 13-under 203 for three rounds (the old mark was 10-under) with an all-time league low score of 65 — but his usually sound short game was AWOL at the Ohio State Scarlet Course, leading to high numbers.
He shot 76-74-75 and tied for 63rd.
“I felt my game was in a good spot — I just didn’t score as well,” he said. “I didn’t get the up-anddowns that I did everywhere else. I didn’t make the putts that I did everywhere else,” he said.
“It was kind of unfortunate. As a team, we were only six back (of the last qualifying spot for the nationals). But I learned a lot.”
Asked what his biggest takeaway was, he said, “My ball-striking is just as good as anyone out there.”
Mathiesen has played at an elite level almost everywhere else in his career, and the Raiders will likely be able to count on him when they tee it up Monday through Wednesday in the 14-team NCAA Regional at Rancho Santa Fe, California.
PAC-12 champion Arizona State is the No. 1 seed, followed by Washington, Oklahoma, Cal and Oklahoma State.
The top five teams advance to the nationals.
A fifth-year player who grew up in Qatar, Mathiesen set the single-season school record for average at 70.38 this year, just
ahead of Tyler Goecke’s mark of 70.39 in 2022-23 (postseason rounds don’t count in the official tally).
He’s also clinched the career scoring record at 71.23, while Goecke finished at 71.29.
Mathiesen also has eight individual wins in his career, a program record in the Division I era.
He worked diligently after that showing at Ohio State, picking up muchneeded distance. His drives are consistently in the 280290 range — and he can move it 300 yards when he lets it rip.
“I changed my swing a little bit where I can hit the ball harder and have a more penetrating ball flight, one that flies a little farther,” he said. “I used to have a safety cut, and now it’s more of an aggressive straight ball.”
The increased distance certainly helped in the NCAA Regionals last year when he qualified as an individual.
With just one spot in the nationals available to players not on the top five teams, he shot a 6-under 207 at the Eagle Eye golf club in Bath, Michigan, by going 67-71-69.
Kansas State’s Luke O’Neil advanced after shooting 7-under and winning a playoff.
“He had a 12- to 14-foot slider on the last hole last year to get into a playoff. I think he’s going to lean on that heavily, and he knows he can play with those guys. That’ll be big,” coach Conner Lash said.
Asked what he needs from Mathiesen, the thirdyear coach said: “Hopefully, he’ll speak up a little bit and let the guys know it’s just another golf tournament and there’s nothing to be afraid of.
“There’s some guys on the team playing better than Mikkel right now, so that’ll also be a good thing for us.”*