When you think of it, choosing Michigan State made a lot of sense for St. Mary’s golf standout Aidan Emmerich. Big Ten school. His father grew up in East Lansing and his uncle still lives in the area. Outstanding golf program. And he gets to stay a Spartan.
Emmerich, a Swampscott resident who was part of three straight state championships at St. Mary’s, made it official Friday when the senior signed his National Letter of Intent in a ceremony at St. Mary’s, attended by his family, coach, teachers and teammates.
“My family is from East Lansing so it’s almost like a second home,” said Emmerich, the youngest of three brothers to excel as a St. Mary’s golfer. “They have a good program and they play against good competition. Illinois is a top-10 team.”
Emmerich has been a force in the St. Mary’s program since arriving as a 75-pound sixth-grader in 2015. He is still relatively small at 5 feet 8 inches, but that doesn’t prevent him from averaging about 280 yards with his driver.
Emmerich was an eighth-grader on the 2017 state championship team, when his brother, Christian, was a junior and won the individual championship. The team and Christian repeated as state champs in 2018, this time with Aidan finishing one stroke behind his brother in the individual competition. Aidan took over the No. 1 spot in 2019 and led the Spartans to a three-peat.
“We expected to do big things when all three of us came here, and we followed through on that,” Aidan said of himself, Christian ’19 (who plays at Holy Cross) and older brother Max ’17 (Salem State), all of whom qualified for the Massachusetts Open last year. “My brothers push me all the time. I hate losing to them.”
Losing is not something Emmerich has made a habit of, even in a sport as demanding as golf. He considers himself a grinder, with chipping his strength, yet he has shown flashes of brilliance — never more so than in the Catholic Central League tournament last October, when he shot a course record, 8-under 61 at Hillview Golf Course in North Reading.
“And he missed a few putts he could have made,” said St. Mary’s coach Jay Fiste, who has benefited from having the triumvirate of Emmerichs on his roster.
“I’m lucky to have had the whole family go through the program,” Fiste said. “They are all outstanding players who take the game very seriously.”
Aidan said he has been told by many people over the years that he had the potential to play big-time collegiate golf. Friday, he officially proved them right.
“I kept grinding and now I’m going to a Big 10 school,” he said.
Kernwood Country Club in Salem is the Emmerichs’ home course and where their father, David, a 19 handicap, feels fortunate to be on the same fairway with his talented sons. He and his wife, Kim, are also grateful for the role St. Mary’s has played in the lives of their sons and daughter, Gretchen, a freshman at the school this year and an accomplished dancer.
“We feel strongly that the St. Mary’s influence has been overwhelmingly positive,” David said.
They instill a self-respect and respect-others culture. It’s a very family-oriented environment. We couldn’t be happier.”
Asked who is the best player among the three brothers, Aidan was diplomatic — to a degree.
“It’s a good fight between Christian and me,” he said. “I’d say it’s me, but he would disagree.”