Freshman shines, team struggles at Broncho Invitational

Sam Johnston watches his shot on March 24. — Junior Sam Johnston watches his shot on March 24 at the Broncho Invitational. *Online Photo*

The Eagle golf team struggled to switch into gear at the Broncho Invitational in Oklahoma City earlier this week after a spring break.

Oklahoma Christian University traveled the 20-minute drive to Gaillardia Country Club to compete against 15 other teams in the NCAA’s Division II Central Region and South Central Region.

Monday’s performance left the team tied for eighth place at 307, and while they battled wind the next day, the team scored 306 for a seventh place finish at 613.

Head Coach David Lynn said the results are simply due to poor performances as the golfers return to school.

“Our course management and our ball control are really hurting our performance,” Lynn said. “It was fairly windy today, this affected most of the team scores upwards but we played so poorly on Monday in perfect conditions it didn’t reflect in our Tuesday scores.”

Freshman Zac Schaefer led the team this week with shots of 77 and 72, landing him in a tie at 149 for 10th place. Schaefer was the only Eagle to place in the top 15 at the tournament.

Lynn said Schaefer’s performance was a relief in the rough two-day tournament.

“It was nice to see Zac as a freshman have a good comeback round in difficult conditions,” Lynn said.

Sam Johnston also shot 77 on Monday but fell back to shooting a 74 on the windy Tuesday. With a total score of 151 he tied for 23rd place.

Trey Payne’s consistency helped him bounce back from fifth place on the team to third. He fired 79s on both days to tie for 50th place at 158 with fellow senior teammate Jared Consoli, who shot 75 and 83.

Chase Espazra was one swing behind the seniors after firing 78 and 81 to end in a tie for 54th place at 159. Espazra rounded-out the team’s top five scorers in the invitational.

Oklahoma Christian entered two other golfers as individuals in the tournament.

Grady Neal, the Eagle’s third freshman on the team, also showed consistency despite the tournament’s weather changes. Neal shot 82 on both days for a total score of 164 for 76th place.

Kevin Workman rounded out the Eagles’ seven active team members with shots of 78 and 89 to land in a tie at 83rd place with 167 in the 96-man field.

The Eagles head to the Dallas Baptist Golf Classic in Texas on April 7-8. This is the last tournament before the Heartland Conference Championship.