Led by a new coach and three freshmen, the Sacramento State men’s golf program looks to re-establish itself as a top competitor in Division I and the Big Sky conference.

If anybody knows how to bring success back to the Sac State program it is new head coach Adam Pohll.

Pohll was a key member of the men’s golf teams in 1996 and 1997 and he helped Sac State win the school’s first-ever Big Sky championship in any sport in ’97. Pohll himself was co-medalist at the Big Sky Championships as a senior and he also went on to win three more individual titles his senior year.

With Pohll at the helm the hopes are to bring that success back to Sac State golf and this year he hopes that by “rebuilding” the program he will be able to do that.

“It’s kind of like in football and baseball,” Pohll said. “Since the team is so young we only have room to improve. I am very excited about having these young guys here to go along with the returning guys. There is just upside here and I am excited to see the progress we make.”

Two players Pohll speaks very highly of are junior Brian Little and true freshman Matt Montez. He considers them to be the top two players on the team.

“Even though Matt is 18-years-old, he is not afraid of being a number one player for us,” Pohll said of Montez. “That is very rare to see in Division I golf, having a freshman being a top player and competing every week.”

Montez had his best finish this year back in November when he finished tied for eighth place at the Bill Cullum/Countrywide Intercollegiate tournament to lead all Sac State golfers.

He says his individual goal is to be able to finish in the top-10 this upcoming spring.

“Even though I’ve been successful so far, play has been a lot different than high school so far,” Montez said. “But with the progress we are making because of the coaches, the transition has been a lot smoother for me and the other young guys.

“It has been really fun playing with a coach who can beat you. He is really honest with us and I’ve seen progress in my game since Adam came aboard with us back in the fall.”

At 29-years-old Pohll is one of the younger coaches among Sac State athletics and he thinks it should only help him connect with his team since a few years ago he was in their same place.

Little on the other hand would like to crack the top spot in a tournament after finishing second place in tournaments three times before. The last time he did so was at the Santa Clara invitational back in October.

“Even though winning one would be nice, I would like to see us win a tournament as a team,” Little said. “I think with new coaches we have and with the new guys we are making strides to getting that goal.

“Coach Pohll has brought a lot more structure in here this year with practices and workouts and he’s starting a new, positive generation for the team. Coach wants to help us all improve and because of that I see us with seven solid players right now.”

Even though Pohll sees the potential in his younger players this year he does say having youth hurts because the hardest part is teaching his young guys how to win.

The Hornets men haven’t won a tournament since the Countrywide Homes Intercollegiate in October 1999.

But he does say the youth doesn’t scare him either.

“I love the upside of having such a young team,” Pohll said. “They can only get better and they push the veterans like Brian. And in return having a veteran like Brian to learn is something that will help them out in the future.”