Nick Mathews is healthy, and so his golf game.
The Mebane native (pictured above playing in the NCAA regional at Finley Golf Course) concluded an outstanding year at N.C. State by finishing in a tie for 15th at the NCAA Championship at La Costa North in Carlsbad, California.
Coming back from a slump of more than a year after suffering from pneumonia and bronchitis, Mathews said keys to his emergence as one of the nation’s top collegiate players were his hard work and his trust that he was on the right path.
“I just love the game of golf and the process of making improvement,” Mathews said. “I kept working and reflecting on what I love, sticking with the process and the discipline and, I knew the results would come.”
Playing in only seven events in his first three years – he took two redshirt years after the health problems — at N.C. State, Mathews hadn’t experienced the level of success he had enjoyed earlier in his career.
The Carolinas Golf Association Junior Boys’ Player of the Year in 2019, Mathews qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur that year at Inverness in Toledo, Ohio. The left-hander won the Carolinas Golf Association N.C. Match Play title in 2020 and the CGA N.C. Amateur Championship in 2021.
But the illness in fall 2021 kept him off the course and off the practice tee. He lost 20 pounds.
Faced with the challenge of coming back, Mathews said he dedicated himself to “striving for excellence in everything.” By last summer, he started to see results with strong finishes in regional events and was optimistic entering the fall season at N.C. State.
Mathews tied for second overall in the Wolfpack’s first tournament in a Michigan State field that included eventual national runner-up Florida State.
Mathews followed with strong finishes in national fields — a tie for sixth at Duke, a tie for 18th at Arkansas and a tie for 16th at The Williams Cup at Eagle Point in Wilmington. He led the Wolfpack in three of four fall tournaments and was 3-over-par for 11 tournament rounds, nine strokes better than anyone else in the Wolfpack lineup.
The resurgence continued in the spring, highlighted by his first career collegiate victory in mid-April in the Stitch Intercollegiate at N.C. State’s Lonnie Poole Golf Course in a field that included Duke and UNC Greensboro.
After tying for 23rd at the ACC Championship at Charlotte Country Club, Mathews strong season was recognized with an individual berth in the NCAA Regional at North Carolina’s Finley Golf Course.
At Finley, Mathews played perhaps the best he’s ever played, shooting 67, 66 and 65 to finish second overall at 12-under, only one shot behind UNC’s Austin Greaser, to earn the only individual spot in Carlsbad available at the regional.
Working with Poole director of instruction Chase Duncan, his coach before he went to N.C. State, Mathews said he focused on improvement in his skills, rather than scores.
“We just stuck to my swing DNA,” Mathews said. “We called it ‘refinement.’ I have a 1% motto. How can I get 1% better?”
Those incremental improvements added up quickly.
Duncan said Mathews developed additional shot options, abilities that helped him adjust to varying course conditions. In the NCAA Championships, Mathews used his ability to hit low-flight shots in firm, breezy conditions at La Costa North.
Mathews shot 73, 77, 68 and 71 at La Costa to finish at 1-over 289. The clutch 68 allowed him to survive a cut only players on the top five teams and the other top nine individuals.
Though Golf Channel cameras focused on the team battle, Mathews briefly pulled within three shots of the individual lead with a 33-foot putt for eagle at the par-5 second hole, his 11th hole of the day. He dropped back with bogeys on the next two holes before finishing with a birdie.
“It’s been a really impressive climb,” said Duncan, who also works with Mathews’ sister Emily, who plays at Virginia Tech.
Duncan pointed to Mathews’ spot in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, which had soared to No. 59 in the May 29 rankings.
Duncan said Mathews has “above average” length of the tee, carrying the ball about 300 yards, no glaring weaknesses in his skill set and confidence in his putting.
“I feel like everything is solid,” said the former N.C. State player and longtime Poole instructor. “He has a good level head on his shoulders. He’s become very well rounded.”
Mathews considers his wedge play and putting as particular strengths.
A finance major, Mathews plans to use his new amateur status to play in the nation’s top amateur events this summer, including the North and South at Pinehurst Resort, and attempt to qualify for the U.S. Amateur. In the next year, he hopes to rise in the PGA U program, which offers PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour access to top players who play four collegiate years.
