During one of his early tournaments, Matthew Kress made what his assistant coach now remembers as some of the worst shots he’s ever seen. Luckily, Kress has come a long way since then.
Now ranked No. 50 nationally, the senior golfer has solidified himself as one of the best college golfers in the country. But it took a long and treacherous road, riddled by a pandemic, dozens of admissions essays and a battle with imposter syndrome, to get there.
Kress grew up miles outside of San Jose in Northern California. From the very beginning, he was up against the best players in his age group.
“I didn’t like losing to all these kids very often, but that was basically my whole junior career,” Kress said. “I was never the cream of the crop and was never one of the best in the country or in the state for sure.”
In junior play, he didn’t win many tournaments. However, he continually believed in himself and wanted to make others proud.
Kress didn’t go through the typical process for prospective college golfers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Coaches were not recruiting from his class coming out of high school. So, he had to go through the regular college application process.
“I wrote probably 20 to 30 different college essays behind the different schools across the country,” Kress said.
He applied to schools across the country, including UF, Florida State University, Boston College, the University of Southern California and Virginia Tech. He prepared to enroll as a regular student, with the intention of eventually joining the team as a walk-on.
During February and March of his senior year of high school, he played his best golf yet. This led his swing coach, Jeff Smith, to persuade Florida men’s golf head coach J.C. Deacon to give him a chance.
Florida admitted Kress, and he enrolled.
A late decision by European superstar Tom McKibbin to turn professional left the program without a recruit in the 2021 class. Combined with COVID-19 restrictions and no players, Deacon was forced to search for a replacement.
An email from Kress quickly caught the coach’s attention. Deacon said it was the most impressive email he’s received from a recruit.
When joining the team in Fall 2021, Kress made the decision to redshirt early on. But he soon realized he wasn’t far off from the top golfers across the nation.
“What separates the 100th best player on the college level to the best player … is pretty small,” Kress said.
Deacon did not give up on Kress, despite his early struggles with shot quality and ball control. By March of his freshman year, his resiliency began to translate into results, prompting Deacon to believe he could eventually become a factor in the team’s success.
Little did he know Kress would help Florida win the SEC and national championship in Spring 2023.
However, during both runs, Kress was overrun by imposter syndrome.
“I felt like my role was to be happy you’re there and try not to mess up,” Kress said.
Perhaps the senior’s most significant form of transformation has been managing his emotions. Early on, Kress used to be rattled by slow starts, which would ruin the rest of his tournament.
Now, Kress’ emotional intelligence has contributed to his leadership skills. He leans away from an authoritative approach and more toward a collaborative one.
Kress emphasized the importance of time management.
“For the first time, you’re kind of the CEO of your life,” Kress said. “You’ve got to develop that skill of being able to manage your time, especially with the travel we do for golf.”
Meanwhile, Deacon said Kress’ ball control and learning to hit bogeys under pressure are his biggest improvements. Deacon also said Kress has emerged as a leader and voice for the team.
“He’s not afraid to speak up now and call someone out,” Deacon said.
During qualifiers, associate head coach Dudley Hart recalled one of Kress’ toughest rounds, admitting it was one of the worst shots he's seen.
“I’m like, this kid’s not even remotely close to being able to play for this team,” Hart said.
Despite the rough start, he was impressed by Kress’ work ethic and motivation to better himself. Kress became better at responding to nervousness and regulating his emotions, Hart said.
In uncomfortable scenarios, he noted Kress consistently makes decisions that minimize risk while still giving himself opportunities to be aggressive when the conditions are favorable.
“It’s just understanding that making it par sometimes is a really good thing,” Hart said.
Contact Colby Kistner at ckistner@alligator.org. Follow him on X @colbykistner22.
Colby is a junior sports journalism student in his first semester with the Alligator covering golf. He has experience covering Buchholz and Santa Fe High School sports. He also worked in UF's innovation center where he wrote and created radio content for WRUF. He is an avid hockey fan with his teams being the Seattle Kraken and Florida Panthers. He is looking to minor in business administration.
