Eagle golfers compete as individuals to wrap up fall season

The men’s golf team competed as eight individuals in the Southern Plains Intercollegiate tournament at Gaillardia Country Club – the last tournament of the fall season.

Sam Johnston led the way for the Eagles in this final tournament with a sixth-place finish. Johnston ended the first day with two one-over 71s – one in the first round morning session, then the same score in the afternoon round. Fellow senior Kevin Workman posted a first-round 78, but would finish the day with a one-under 71 – three shots behind Johnston.

Johnston’s final round, two-under 70, was the second-best score of any round for the whole tournament. This was low enough to place Johnston sixth to finish.

Freshman Alejandro Valenzuela capped off his tournament with a 72 on the final day to add to his first-day scores of 78 and 74, placing him at 15th for the tournament. Workman also placed in the top-20 for the tournament with his final-day 77 – to tie for 19th.

Ryan Trousdale and Juan Pallach finished a shot apart to tie for 40th and 42nd respectively.

This tournament concludes the fall season for the men’s golf team and was used primarily as extra work and experience for some young golfers, Men’s Golf Head Coach David Lynn said. “We sent eight guys this week as individuals to get some extra work and experience in,” Lynn said. “We are so young, I felt it would be a good thing for our team.”

Lynn said he didn’t believe the fall went as well as he hoped. “This tournament went basically as our semester went – with a lot of inexperienced, unforced errors that killed us in the end,” Lynn said.

The Eagles golf team will be off from competitive events until the San Antonio shootout on Feb. 15-16. To be successful in the spring, Lynn said his team needs to train for focus rather than trying to change some of the physical aspects.

“For us to get better our mental games will have to improve and our course management will also need to get better,” Lynn said. “That’s one huge advantage for us as our season gives us a break now until middle January. We can work on some things individually and work on our mental and physical game as a team in the off-season.”

Statistics provided by the Oklahoma Christian University Sports Information Office.