By ALEXA NUDGE
Contributing Writer
Passion is what gave him each and every opportunity. Opportunity is what led him to each and every accomplishment. Michael Pilkington was just a 12-year-old boy when he started playing golf with his grandfather at a local country club in his hometown, Bethpage, New York.
As a young boy, Pilkington only saw golf as a fun bonding activity with his grandfather.
He never did imagine golf becoming such a major part of his life due to the strong growth in love he developed for this sport over time.
Pilkington, 20, is a junior with a major in finance at The College of Saint Rose.
Pilkington decided to attend Saint Rose because of the emerging and welcoming golf program. He entered this season as one of the top four returning scorers from 2016-17 with a scoring average of 78.50.
On Sept. 19 in Hanover, New Hampshire, the season-opening Penmen Fall Invitational took place, where he led the golden Knights, scoring back to back 72’s.
This left him in 25th place with two day totals of 149 and 151 competitors. As a sophomore, Pilkington was named NE-10 spring academic all-conference and was chosen for the NE-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the fall semester in recognition of his outstanding academic success.
At the Saint Rose fall shootout in October, 2016, Pilkington shot a season low of 72, helping the team participate in its very first NCAA tournament that spring.
This was the first time in the program’s history for a team to do so. Starting off freshman year, Pilkington was named athlete of the week by Saint Rose for leading his team to its greatest team score ever at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship where he tied for ninth among a total of 50 competitors.
He ended his freshman year as second best on the team with a scoring average of 80.21
Growing up in the town of Bethpage, Pilkington attended Plainedge High School where he played all four years on the varsity golf team with the role as captain of the team for two of those years.
He also achieved all county honors for varsity golf in 11th and 12th grade and received the coach’s award for varsity golf in 10th, 11th and 12th grade. In high school he was also the captain of the junior varsity lacrosse team.
He says that giving up lacrosse in college wasn’t easy and although he does miss playing, choosing between golf and lacrosse wasn’t a difficult choice because golf has always been where his heart is.
“Michael is not only dedicated to his golf but to his studies as well,” said Head Coach Scott Warren. That is why Pilkington “is so successful here at Saint Rose. He never fails to impress academically even with the amount of time he has had to take away from his studies due to golf.”
Pilkington not only excels as an athlete at Saint Rose but as a student as well.
He has made the dean’s list a total of three Semesters and holds a role of leadership position in the Student Athlete Advisory Committee as a representative for the golf team.
When he is not playing golf he is investing time into his studies due to the fact that his major will play a large role in his future. Focusing in finance, Pilkington eventually wants to pursue his career as an investment banker.
His motivation for taking an interest in finance comes from spending his summers as a caddie at the Meadowbrook country club in his hometown.
Many of the members he would caddie for have some sort of career in the finance field or are employed on Wall Street which resulted in several conversations about the benefits and job opportunities that come with being a finance major which became a big motivation factor in why Pilkington chose to go into the finance field.
Due to his several credits transferred over from high school and his dedication in excelling in academics here at Saint Rose, Pilkington will be graduating a year early.
This upcoming spring he plans to graduate Saint Rose and move back home to Long Island where he will either attend graduate school or take the year off and work.
He is still deciding where exactly he will take his success next after graduating Saint Rose this upcoming spring.
“While playing together on the golf team, I have been able to witness Michaels success on the course only grow stronger through the seasons which has been pretty cool to watch,” said Brian Pesavento, Senior on College of Saint Rose golf team.
Pilkington says he could not imagine himself excelling in any other golf program as much he has at Saint Rose.
Being on a team that has given him a strong support system is extremely important to him. Between having a coach that has become like a second father to him here at school and teammates who have become family, he has always had an exceptional support system. This has been Pilkington’s source of motivation while playing golf for Saint Rose but not everyone is lucky enough to play alongside with teammates and a coach who will have their back on and off the course which is what has made his journey playing golf for Saint Rose so incredibly special.
Although he is sad to leave Saint Rose in the spring, he is thankful for the accomplishments he has made both athletically and academically here.
He is excited to start whatever it is life has in store for him next but will still always carry a piece of saint rose with him for it is a place that has given him many of his greatest achievements. Pilkington says that wherever it is he ends up, he will always have Saint Rose and the people he met along the way to thank for helping him grow as a student, an athlete and a person.
