It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that Eastern’s top two golfers have posted nearly identical scores the last two seasons. After all, they’re twins. Seniors Matt and Mike Imburgia have kept pace with each other for some time, and this year both brothers have a 75.2 stroke average. The brothers recently sat down with Staff Reporter Mike Mears to discuss improvements they have made, their relationship with older brother Anthony and why they transferred from Illinois State.

What was it like to both play well this fall against Chicago State?

Matt: It was fun. We play (Meadow View Golf Course) every day, and that’s where we go practice. We’re pretty familiar with it. We even grew up playing it. When you get to play a course that much you know it pretty well. Plus Meadow View is not the most demanding golf course we’ve ever played. Chicago State wanted to come down and have a little dual match with us. I played well. Made a putt on the last hole for birdie, otherwise I would’ve tied for first with this guy here.

Do you two make it a goal to beat each other?

Mike: Matt and I have the exact same average – the exact same number of strokes per round. We’ve been playing together since we started playing golf. Family rivalries really don’t exist. High school golf was the same way. We’re just looking for ways to help each other out, for each other to play well. I know I haven’t been playing my best golf, but there are times when we’ve clicked and started playing well, and I think that reflects on our averages.

What was it like to win two high school titles at Effingham St. Anthony?

Mike: In high school they played the courses a little bit shorter than in college, but we played well. We had a really good team. Playing in Bloomington in the cold weather in October wasn’t much fun, but other than that, it was fun in high school because every day you’re going to school with your teammates – guys you know really well.

Why did you both decide to transfer from Illinois State?

Matt: Long story short, things just didn’t work out. What we were hoping for was a chance for all three of us (including older brother and former Eastern golfer Anthony Imburgia) to be able to play together. We pretty much found out right away that we weren’t going to get the opportunity that we wanted for all three of us to play together.

Mike: Part of it is the coach that recruited us was there for the first semester, and then he retired. We didn’t hear anything about it.

Matt: The ISU women’s coach at the time took over both programs. He had a different idea about what was going to happen to the guys’ team (than the previous coach). And Mike Moncel was our swing coach when we were little, ever since we were 10 years old. And so after we left ISU, and we found out that he had the head-coaching job here, it was just a perfect fit.

What has led to your improvement over the past two years?

Matt: Honestly, I think a lot of it is attributed to my mental game. It’s come a long way since I started golf. I was known as one of the guys who, when a round of golf got going bad, that I would tend to beat myself up and somewhat almost quit on my round. And that would result in me throwing away a lot of unnecessary shots. Now, I’m realizing that if I don’t have a good score it’s going to affect the team quite a bit. And so when something goes bad out there, just keep plugging away. You can’t give away any more shots than what you just did.

What would each of you say is your biggest strength on the course?

Matt: That’s a really good question. You can go first, because I don’t know what I would say.

Mike: Lately I’ve been hitting the ball pretty long. I would say distance is definitely my strong point. But to be quite honest with you, that’s not one of the things I’m looking for. The key to playing well and being successful is the short game. If you miss a green from the fairway, you’ve got to get up and down for par. If you hit a green close enough to the hole, you’ve got to be able to make some putts. It doesn’t matter how long you hit it. You can hit a 3-iron off of the tee and a 4-iron onto the green, but as long as your short game is good enough the worst you’re going to do is par. And I think that goes for our whole team. If we can get our short game a little better, I think we’ll be pretty tough to beat.

Matt: Would you say chipping (he asked his brother)? I wouldn’t say short game because my putting is not very good. I’ve been struggling a lot lately with my putting, so I guess I’d say chipping.

Mike: He reminds me a lot of Phil Mickelson. I don’t know if you watch golf a lot, but he’s very creative.

Matt: There you go. Creativity. That’s my strong point.

Mike: I think that’s really accompanied his mental game.

If you could take one on-course attribute from the other, what would it be?

Matt: I would want Mike’s (mental) drive. One thing I notice about him, when he gets the mindset that he can win and sets his mind to win, it will happen or he’ll come really close. I think for a while when he was in a little bit of a slump, he let that part of his game go. He didn’t think he was out there to win. He’s stepped up so much from even last year.

Mike: Obviously, like I mentioned earlier, he has a great short game. I would probably say, besides that, the one thing I would like to have is that he’s a very easy-going guy. When he’s on the course he could hit a bad shot, but a lot of times it doesn’t seem to get to him. On his way to the ball he’ll be talking and laughing with his competitors. He gets to his ball and he never seems out of it. I’ve noticed that a lot. He’s very capable of shooting low. If he gets into trouble, he finds some creative, easy-going way to get out of it and end up shooting a good score.

What was it like to play on the same team with your older brother, Anthony?

Mike: One of the greatest golfers I’ve ever played with. That’s for sure.

Matt: One of the greatest guys ever.

Mike: Just all-around. Academic All-American. 4.0 (GPA) almost every year in college. Won a collegiate tournament last year in Hawaii. To say the least, he’s pretty much our role model, if you can’t tell. He got us started in the game. He’s a student of the game. When I say a student of the game, I mean he has one of the best work ethics I ever saw. He would practice and practice and practice. Sometimes it got ridiculous how long he would practice.

Matt: He would eat, sleep (and) breathe golf.

Mike: Whether it’s golf, school, or anything, he’s very dedicated. He wants to be the best. He will not give up until he succeeds. Golf, school, now he’s in dental school. Very good player to look up to as a role model.

Mike (Left) and Matt (Right) Imburgia, are two of three Imburgias’ which include their sister, Katie, that are currently on the Eastern golf team. (John Bailey/The Daily Eastern News)

(more…)