Photo by: Henoc Kivuye
Inclement weather prevented the Oklahoma Christian University men’s golf team from practicing leading up to their season-opener, but the squad soldiered on.
The Eagles hosted several transitioning National College Athletic Association Division II schools on Monday and Tuesday at the San Antonio Shoot-Out at Tournament Players’ Club (TPC) San Antonio Canyons Course.
The tournament was hosted in San Antonio for better weather conditions than what could be expected in Edmond, Okla.
“I wanted to host in San Antonio for the convenience of opponents and a guarantee of better weather,” Head Men’s Golf Coach David Lynn said. “It just turned out to be a better option for our team and our opponents.”
Oklahoma Christian was unable to practice immediately before the tournament, but the team chose to use the performance in San Antonio as a benchmark for the remainder of the spring season.
“We finished off the tournament in 15th place,” Lynn said. “Overall we were rusty because we did not have practice because of the weather. You never know what you are going to get in terms of weather. When I made the schedule [for the shoot-out], I did not know we would not be able to practice the two weeks before. However, we can take positives away and build expectations for the rest of the season from this tournament.”
The Eagles finished Monday in fourth place, shooting 299 as a team on the first round and 306 on the second, a total score of 605 on day one of the tournament.
Oklahoma Christian was five points behind the leaders of the tournament on Monday, Lee University and St. Edward’s University.
Junior Trey Payne provided a strong performance for the Eagles, shooting 74 and 75 on the par-72 course. Payne came in ninth place out of 76 golfers with a 149.
“I did not expect to play well, but I feel like I had a solid performance,” Payne said. “It was a tough course, and we did not get to prepare the way we wanted because of the weather and that affected the whole team. We are used to playing and practicing every day.”
Sophomore Sam Johnston tied for 12th place. Johnston finished the day one shot behind Payne with a 74 Monday morning and 76 that afternoon. Senior Alasdair Dalgliesh shot 75 in the morning and 77 in the second round. Dalgliesh came in 15th with a score of 152.
Fellow senior Johnny Ellis shot a 76 and a 78 for a 25th place finish and final total of 154. Freshman Ryan Evans finished the first round with a score of 101 and shortened his total in the afternoon with a score of 96.
“I lowered my expectations this week, knowing that I have not played much,” Ellis said. “We were all rusty, nobody really played well. We did have a chance to win going into the final round, which is a good feeling since none of us played well. We will be ready in two weeks for the next tournament in Austin because we are going to get some good practice in this week and next week.”
The team accepted the impact weather conditions had on its practices prior to the tournament and chose to roll with the conditions and relax.
“We threw everything out the window this weekend and just went out and played golf,” Lynn said. “Under normal circumstances with proper practices, we would expect to win, but it just was not happening this weekend.”
With Oklahoma Christian’s athletic program still in the midst of its transition into NCAA Division II, the Eagles participated in the National Christian Athletic Association National Tournament last October, which was the focal point in terms of postseason play.
Lynn invited teams to San Antonio that were in similar transition situations as a way for the Eagles to work into playing with different and higher levels of competition.
“If we were not going through the transition from NAIA to NCAA, we would have used the fall season as a warm up for the spring season,” Lynn said. “Since we participated in the NCCAA national tournament in the fall, we are working this season to just get better every week. We will have the opportunity to do that with practice. We were prohibited from reaching our goals this time, but I think overall we will compete and win as we practice more.”
The division transition process will take three years to fully enter into the NCAA Division II athletic affiliation. Until that time, the team is not eligible for NCAA postseason play.
Oklahoma Christian golfers said they expect more from themselves in future competitions.
“Our team is used to playing well,” Payne said. “We were unable to prepare the way we would have liked, but I feel like we played decent. The team looks good, and we all believe that we can win any event. I expect us to have the same success the program always had.”
The Eagles will be in Austin, Texas for their next tournament the weekend of March 3-4.
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