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NLI: Shen golfer Ryan Simpson selects Siena College with video
Shenendehowa senior golfer Ryan Simpson is all smiles after committing to Siena College after a signing ceremony at High School East. He is supported by his parents, Susanne and Mark. Standing, Shen golf coach Chris Douglas and Athletic Director Christopher Culnan.
CLIFTON PARK – If there was any surprise during the spring collegiate signing period by athletes it was that Shenendehowa senior golfer Ryan Simpson would attend a school in the Northeast.
Simpson joined teammate Lou Walsh at Shenendehowa High School prior to graduation to celebrate their commitments to Division I colleges as both golfers decided to swing their sticks at Siena College.
“I did visit a lot of schools in the South, but I really liked the academics of Siena,” Simpson said. “You don’t get as good on the academic side in the South as you do in the North and to top it off they have a really good golf team and it keeps getting better. In the past couple years they keep moving up, I’m just real glad with that.
“I love Coach (Tom) Wronowski and I really enjoyed the overnight I did there and the dorms and their home course is Shaker Ridge,” Simpson said. “At first I didn’t want to be close to home, but after weighing it all out it worked better that way. I did all the calculations and it just came out that way.”
Simpson had Flagler College in Florida and Belmont University in Tennessee on his short list, along with Siena.
“He made a great connection with Coach Wronowski and the team,” his father, Mark, said. “He already knows a couple of the players on the team that he has played with locally, Justin (Deitz) a former Shen graduate and I think that had big influence on him. He made a good connection and was very comfortable with the players and the format that Coach Wronowski runs at Siena and I think that is going to give him a great opportunity to excel at his game.
“We made all of the opportunities available,” Mark Simpson said. “He had a large selection of colleges he wanted to visit and to meet with coaches. He did have a fair number of opportunities to play down South which we thought he might do as well.”
His mom, Susanne, gave him the green light to get away, but isn’t about to argue about his decision to be 25 minutes away.
“We told him, Loudonville, Los Angeles, it’s all the same,” Susanne Simpson said. “Stay, go, have your college life, your college career, have fun, but we are thrilled to pieces that he is in such good hands and in such a wonderful community at Siena and that he is going to be so close.” Continued...
“He was a varsity player before I got the job at Shen, so he’s been a solid varsity player since before I got here,” Douglas said. “Certainly in the last couple of years he has continued that success, always a solid player physically, but mentally and emotionally he is extremely solid as well and has continued to develop and hone his skills to a level that I know he’ll be quite successful at the college level.”
Simpson was attracted by Siena Coach Tom Wronowski’s straight-forward golf line-up strategies.
“We compete for spots on the team and so the people that are playing good will have a chance to play and that’s another reason why I chose Siena,” Simpson said. “There are a lot of teams where they have a set roster and you are playing for that set spot and there are 10 guys on the team.”
The pressure of playing and competing for a spot on the top five scoring spots is nothing new to the Siena business major.
“In October, that is a big golf month, there are tournaments almost every weekend,” Simpson said. “It is our first year on the team, I would love to play every tournament, but I wouldn’t expect it.
“I’ve been able to play in plenty of big tournaments and have had the opportunity to feel that pressure,” Simpson said. “Now I’m just hoping to utilize that in the next couple of years.”
Just like making the cut during the first day of a tournament or sinking that long putt to seal the victory, his commitment to Siena College was a relief.
“When I first started looking at colleges, Siena wasn’t what I was looking at,” Simpson said. “I knew a lot of people that went there. I never figured to be close to home as time went on it felt right.
“The past two months I have known that I wanted to go there, but to actually say that I’m going there is a huge relief,” Simpson said. “I had a lot of people asking me where I was going and I was like ‘I don’t know yet.’ Now I know and it feels great.”
Simpson joined teammate Lou Walsh at Shenendehowa High School prior to graduation to celebrate their commitments to Division I colleges as both golfers decided to swing their sticks at Siena College.
“I did visit a lot of schools in the South, but I really liked the academics of Siena,” Simpson said. “You don’t get as good on the academic side in the South as you do in the North and to top it off they have a really good golf team and it keeps getting better. In the past couple years they keep moving up, I’m just real glad with that.
“I love Coach (Tom) Wronowski and I really enjoyed the overnight I did there and the dorms and their home course is Shaker Ridge,” Simpson said. “At first I didn’t want to be close to home, but after weighing it all out it worked better that way. I did all the calculations and it just came out that way.”
Simpson had Flagler College in Florida and Belmont University in Tennessee on his short list, along with Siena.
“He made a great connection with Coach Wronowski and the team,” his father, Mark, said. “He already knows a couple of the players on the team that he has played with locally, Justin (Deitz) a former Shen graduate and I think that had big influence on him. He made a good connection and was very comfortable with the players and the format that Coach Wronowski runs at Siena and I think that is going to give him a great opportunity to excel at his game.
“We made all of the opportunities available,” Mark Simpson said. “He had a large selection of colleges he wanted to visit and to meet with coaches. He did have a fair number of opportunities to play down South which we thought he might do as well.”
His mom, Susanne, gave him the green light to get away, but isn’t about to argue about his decision to be 25 minutes away.
“We told him, Loudonville, Los Angeles, it’s all the same,” Susanne Simpson said. “Stay, go, have your college life, your college career, have fun, but we are thrilled to pieces that he is in such good hands and in such a wonderful community at Siena and that he is going to be so close.”
His varsity golf coach for the past two years, Chris Douglas, is confident in Simpson’s game growing in college.
“He was a varsity player before I got the job at Shen, so he’s been a solid varsity player since before I got here,” Douglas said. “Certainly in the last couple of years he has continued that success, always a solid player physically, but mentally and emotionally he is extremely solid as well and has continued to develop and hone his skills to a level that I know he’ll be quite successful at the college level.”
Simpson was attracted by Siena Coach Tom Wronowski’s straight-forward golf line-up strategies.
“We compete for spots on the team and so the people that are playing good will have a chance to play and that’s another reason why I chose Siena,” Simpson said. “There are a lot of teams where they have a set roster and you are playing for that set spot and there are 10 guys on the team.”
The pressure of playing and competing for a spot on the top five scoring spots is nothing new to the Siena business major.
“In October, that is a big golf month, there are tournaments almost every weekend,” Simpson said. “It is our first year on the team, I would love to play every tournament, but I wouldn’t expect it.
“I’ve been able to play in plenty of big tournaments and have had the opportunity to feel that pressure,” Simpson said. “Now I’m just hoping to utilize that in the next couple of years.”
Just like making the cut during the first day of a tournament or sinking that long putt to seal the victory, his commitment to Siena College was a relief.
“When I first started looking at colleges, Siena wasn’t what I was looking at,” Simpson said. “I knew a lot of people that went there. I never figured to be close to home as time went on it felt right.
“The past two months I have known that I wanted to go there, but to actually say that I’m going there is a huge relief,” Simpson said. “I had a lot of people asking me where I was going and I was like ‘I don’t know yet.’ Now I know and it feels great.”
Central New York Sports By Bleacher Report
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