Morehead State awaits Piazza delivery
The Morehead State Eagles have landed an ace.
Niagara Falls native Nolan Piazza, the first golfer in almost 15 years to capture two Ontario junior boys golf crowns, has committed to attending the university located in Morehead, Ky.
“Honestly it was everything I was looking for,” the Grade 12 student at A.N. Myer Secondary School said. “It is more of a southernish state so they don’t get hit with snow, they have the program I like, the coach was super nice and the guys on the team are very good players as well.
“All of those things attracted me there and it seemed like the perfect fit.”
Piazza is planning to study sports management at the school.
Morehead head coach Matthew Martin can’t wait to see Piazza in action in Ohio Valley Conference play.
“Nolan’s resume speaks for itself. His accomplishments on the golf course are as numerous as they are impressive,” he said, on Morehead’s athletics website. “I cannot wait to add Nolan to our list of Canadian golfers to cross the border and land here in Morehead. His game will absolutely translate to the college level and I very much anticipate his arrival to campus.”
Piazza is glad to have his future mapped out for the next four years.
“It was a long process over the last three or four years and it is always in the back of you mind when you are playing,” he said. “I am freed up by it (signing) now but I am also looking ahead now. Before I was trying to find a spot and now that I know where I am going, it is how can I be dialled in and ready as soon as I arrive on campus in August.”
Piazza is scheduled to arrive in Kentucky Aug. 12 and he is looking forward to getting down to work.
“I really want to be in the lineup for every event,” he said. “If I can be in the lineup for all six events in the fall that would be great. College golf is going to be a different beast and the courses we will be playing will be a lot different than junior golf.
“I am hoping to have a smooth adjustment.”
To take the next step in his game, Piazza feels he has to develop more consistency.
“The low scores are good but the high ones need to go away. If I can get some dispersion control, that would be great and that is what I will be working on.”
His ultimate goal is to play at the pro level and he got a taste of that last September when he earned an exemption for the PGA Tour Canada’s Mackenzie Tour Canada Life Series Championship at TPC Toronto. He was two-under after two rounds and was one of six amateurs to make the cut.
“It was very different. The way the course was set up was a lot different than juniors. They tuck pins closer to the edges, they cut them on slopes and obviously in professional golf you have to work for everything you are given. It was tough but it was a fun challenge and I was super lucky to get to play in it.”
It was a sample of what the future will hopefully hold for him.
“I see where they are and I know that’s where I want to be,” he said. “It was getting that slight taste of how you need to be playing at the pro level in Canada. It is motivating.”
Piazza’s competitive summer golf schedule will kick off on Monday in Oshawa with a qualifier for the U.S. junior championship and on Tuesday he begins play in the Ontario men’s matchplay championship at Taboo Golf Resort in Gravenhurst. Because of the pandemic, the matchplay tournament is an invitational-only event in 2021.
“If I qualify for the U.S. junior, that will be on the schedule but it is at the same time as the Ontario junior.”
Piazza has thought about the chance of threepeating at the Ontario junior and making history but a chance to play in the U.S. junior is too big of an opportunity pass up.
“It has crossed my mind quite a few times about chasing three but it is difficult to have both tournaments at the same time. If I can make a run in the U.S. one, there would be some decent history behind that as well.”
Because of his 2020 Ontario junior victory, Piazza earned an invite to this year’s Ontario men’s amateur but he won’t be able to attend because it is being held at the same time he is leaving for school.
Piazza lost most of his tournament play last season to the COVID-19 pandemic but he didn’t fret about it.
“It was kind of just knowing that everyone was in the same boat as me. At the end of 2020, there were a couple of tours running events for kids down in the States, but the majority of kids still weren’t getting any events,” he said. “It was a tough pill to swallow but there was bigger stuff going on at the moment.”
