SETTING THE SCENE
The St. John Fisher men’s golf team will look to continue its run of dominance in the Empire 8 Conference during the 2026-27 season. The Cardinals, led by longtime head coach Bob Simms, have won the conference championship five years in a row, 14 times in the last 15 seasons and 21 times overall.
Last season, Fisher shot 105-over-par 1,241 over the four-round Empire 8 Championship Tournament to win by 19 strokes. Three Cardinals placed in the top five on the individual leader board, with sophomore Colin Patterson, who ended the fall portion of the tournament in second place, finishing as the champion at 21-over-par 305. Sophomores Nick Years (+23, 307 strokes) and Jack Doran (+28, 312 strokes) took second and fifth, respectively.
Patterson, Years, Doran, Robert Fischer and Cristos Theodore represented the Cardinals in the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championships in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., in May. All five players are back for the 2026-27 season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Colin Patterson, Jr. – Patterson finished the 2025-26 season with the team’s second-best scoring average at 76.5 strokes per round. He claimed Empire 8 Player of the Year and first-team All-Conference honors after winning the conference title at 21-over 305 with nine birdies. Patterson recorded three birdies and an eagle en route to a top-40 finish in the Northeast Elite Tournament last September.
Nick Years, Jr. – Years had the Cardinals’ best scoring average last season, as he averaged 76.4 strokes per round. The 2024-25 Empire 8 Rookie of the Year winner played his way to All-Conference first-team honors for the second straight year, shooting 23-over 307 with 10 birdies in the four-round Empire 8 Championship Tournament. Years won the St. John Fisher Spring Invite at +4 (148 strokes) with six birdies in April.
Jack Doran, Jr. – Doran averaged 79.1 strokes over eight tournaments last season. He earned All-Empire honors for the first time in his college career, achieving first-team status with a fifth-place finish in the conference championship, during which he shot 28-over-par 312.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Cardinals have claimed at least one major Empire 8 award – Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year – in all but two seasons since the conference began presenting yearly honors in 2002. Patterson became the 13th different Cardinal to win Empire 8 Player of the Year last spring.
LINKS
Team Webpage – Schedule, Roster, Coaching Staff, Record Book (Click Here)
St. John Fisher Golf Instagram (Click Here)
St. John Fisher Golf Team Video (Click Here)
