CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Lesley University athletic department has announced its intent to add men's golf as it's 14th NCAA Division III varsity athletic program, beginning competition in the 2024-25 academic year. The addition of men's golf coincides with the decision to suspend sponsorship of men's volleyball, effective immediately.
"We're very excited to make this announcement and can't wait for the Lynx to hit the links this fall," said Dan Campagna, Director of Athletics at Lesley. "In my short time in Cambridge, I received a plethora of inquiries about adding golf, so this decision was something we were exploring throughout the fall. I'm grateful to have administrative support from both President [Janet] Steinmeyer and Vice President [Tom] Englehardt with this move and know we'll be able to field a strong roster in no time."
Lesley, a proud member of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), will have the unique opportunity to compete for an NCAA tournament berth in its first year as a program thanks to the NAC automatic qualifying (AQ) bid to its annual men's golf champion. This past fall, Husson University captured the 2023 NAC Men's Golf Championship and will represent the NAC this spring in the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Golf tournament field.
"This was an important component in our decision to add a new sport," said Campagna. "Knowing that our student-athletes will have immediate access to a conference championship with an AQ on the line will enhance their student-athlete experience and give our first Head Coach something to strive for in the inaugural season of competition."
The department also made the difficult decision to pause its sport sponsorship of men's volleyball to coincide with the men's golf announcement. The Lynx men's volleyball program was founded in 2006 and over 18 years posted an overall record of 21-291 (.0067) which included nine seasons of winless competition.
"Putting a pause on a program is not a fun part of this job, especially a sport in which I competed in as a collegiate student-athlete," said Campagna. "However, it was clear that a men's golf program would provide a more well-rounded and positive student-athlete experience than the product of a men's volleyball team. To me, the student-athlete experience will always be of paramount importance and something we're constantly monitoring for all our programs at Lesley."
With the addition of men's golf and the pause of men's volleyball, Lesley remains at 14 NCAA Division III varsity athletic programs and now also sponsors eSports as its 15th program.
Lesley's search for the inaugural Head Coach of the men's golf program is underway and the staff will begin to investigate local courses to partner with as a home site for practices and match play. Any individual interested in learning more about the program can contact Campagna at daniel.campagna@lesley.edu or fill out a Men's Golf Recruiting Questionnaire.