“He’ll make funny comments to me like, ‘Oh, there’s water over on the right. I hope I don’t hit it there.’ And then he’ll stripe it down the middle,” Lash said.
“He likes to mess with me as a coach. You don’t really want your players saying that, but he likes joking around and backing it up.”
Mathiesen, who was born in Denmark and grew up in Qatar, doesn’t intend to change. He believes his carefree style keeps him playing at a high level.
“If you’re out golfing, which you’re supposed to love, and you’re miserable — you’re sad or upset or mad — there’s no point in your being out there. It’s not going to help you at all,” he said.
“For us seniors, we’re running out of time in college golf. It’s supposed to be FUN.”
Mathiesen (pronounced MATH-ess-son) is having plenty of good times again this season. He’s won a team-best three tournaments while averaging a career-low 70.93.
After leading the Raiders to a Horizon League runner-up finish with a third-place tie as a sophomore, he vaporized the conference scoring record last season by shooting 70-68-65 for a 13-under total of 203 — beating the old mark by seven shots.
Teammate Tyler Goecke also broke the record by shooting 208, helping the Raiders to a 10-shot victory for their second win in three years.
Mathiesen’s 65 is the lowest 18-hole score in the 42-year history of the event.
“I kind of found something in my swing one or two weeks before, and I stuck with it. It was almost a flawless three rounds of golf,” he said.
Asked about his magical swing thought, he said: “I found a way to hit a little cut with all my clubs, especially my driver. I call it my safety slice. It’s something I could really have full trust in, and it worked.”
The Raiders will be overwhelming favorites when they tee it up again in the league tourney Sunday through Tuesday at Mission Inn Resort & Club at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
Goecke broke the school record last season with a 70.47 average, and he’s gone even lower this year with a 70.33 mark.
Senior Cole Corder made the all-league team last year by tying for ninth. And classmate Davis Root tied for 22nd.
The tourney winner earns a spot in the NCAA regionals, and Goecke and Root led the Raiders to a respectable ninth-place tie at Ohio State last year by finishing tied for 12th.
“I think the rest of the teams in the Horizon League are going in with nothing to lose. Just like in any sport, when you go in with nothing to lose, you’re going to play free and probably play well,” Lash said.
“But I honestly think this team is just as good as last year and has a chance to be even better.”
Mathiesen — called “Mike” by those who know him — has a swing coach and strength trainer in Qatar, and they communicate frequently.
One facet where their input has helped is in eliminating big numbers. He had a four-tourney stretch in the fall where he made just one double bogey.
“It’s really easy to turn a hazard ball into a double-bogey. But I’ve been grinding it out and trying to make bogeys instead,” said Mathiesen, who plans to take his fifth year of eligibility at Wright State in 2023-24.
“That can save you one or two shots by the end of a tournament, and you can go from a top 20 to a top 10.”
The Raiders are trying to become the first school to repeat as champs since Cleveland State won five in a row from 2014-18. And they’re heading to Florida with momentum.
They easily won their invitational earlier this week, facing league teams for the first time since last spring. They beat second-place Cleveland State by 18, Youngstown State by 39, Green Bay by 52 and Detroit Mercy by 57.
Mathiesen won the individual title. And Lash said underneath that fun-loving persona is a fierce competitor.
“He’s got a good perspective on golf and life. He’s got a really good head on his shoulders,” he said. “I’ve never really seen him get mad out there, but you know he wants it.”
Oh, he wants it.
“I’d love to win it again. I want to play as good as I can, and I’ve been playing pretty well recently,” he said.
“We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing. We were so close to making it out of the regionals last year. The guys had a great time being there. And we want to do it again.”
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