Oklahoma City University’s men’s and women’s golf teams are in the thick of their Spring schedules and nearing the finish line.
Both teams will see their regular season start to wrap up towards the end of April–with both teams concluding their regular season play this week, the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament in Newton, KS, awaits both teams on April 29th-30th.
Coach Josh Gorzney of the women’s team and Coach Blake Trimble of the men’s team have guided their respective teams to success this season. The Lady Stars currently rank #3 in the country, while the men’s team ranks #9.
To date, the women’s team has placed first in all but one tournament, with that non-first-place finish coming in the Husky Invitational hosted by Division I Houston Christian; OCU was one of three non-Division I teams to play in the invitational.
The Stars began their season in Las Vegas, NV, by participating in The Trailblazer Invitational at TPC Summerlin Golf Course. The Lady Stars then went on to the abovementioned tournament in Houston before playing their next two tournaments in the Sooner State: the Kyle Blaser Invitational at The Greens Country Club and the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic at Lincoln Park Golf Course in Oklahoma City. Coach Gorzney’s squad swept first place in the team and individual standings in the two Oklahoma tournaments.
Maddi Kamas has been the driving force for the Lady Stars golf team this year and has topped the individual leaderboard in three tournaments this season. Kamas won the opening tournament by 24 strokes and has been named Sooner Athletic Conference Golfer of the Week 5 times this year.
So, what has helped Kamas achieve such great success this Spring season? Trusting her game and believing that all of her hard work will pay off for her has been important to the junior out of Kingfisher.
“Starting off with a win in Vegas helped build a lot of confidence for the season, and it just keeps stacking on,” added Kamas.
Being a student-athlete can be a very tough balancing act, especially during junior year, which is known to be one of the busiest years for students in their college journey. When asked about her biggest challenge so far in the Spring, Kamas retorted, “The biggest challenge is staying focused on golf while maintaining a good balance with school work.”
The most recent result for the women’s team occurred at the Deb Jackson Invitational on the Schoolmaster Golf Course in Muscle Shoals, AL. The ladies took 2nd as a team and qualified three golfers inside the Top-15 of the singles leaderboard–Logan Allen finished 3rd, Maddi Kamas 8th, and Paige Wood tied for 13th.
Speaking to The Campus recently, Gorzney discussed what his team needs to do to finish the season strong and what has been fueling their confidence.
“Winning 3 of our last 4 tournaments does a tremendous amount for our team’s confidence. It helps them believe they can get it done even if they aren’t playing their best. Every tournament is a new chance to get better”
The team uses Aimpoint, golf software designed to help athletes better understand deep metrics related to their performance on the greens. Deep-diving into individual stats is vital for Gorzney’s squad to understand how to maximize their opportunities.
“Working on our games from inside of 100 yards will always make us better while trying to give us more realistic birdie looks will help us improve going into Conference and Nationals.”
The men’s team’s season began on February 18th in San Antonio, TX, during the TPC Shootout. The Stars finished third out of eight teams and qualified two Top-10 finishers: Tres Hill, who took sixth place, and Lorenzo Santinelli, who recorded a ninth-place finish in the Lone Star State.
Coach Trimble’s team played two tournaments in March. The first was the Oak Tree Invitational in Edmond, where the team amassed a Top-5 finish, with Santinelli tying for second and Hill taking ninth place.
Then the men’s team went on to compete in The Battle of Laughlin Ranch Golf Course in Las Vegas, NV. As a team, OCU finished fourth out of seventeen teams, with Michael Robson leading all golfers with a -7 on Par-4 holes and finished Top-5 in Pars and Birdies scored. Robson won the singles side of the tournament while the Stars finished just five strokes away from a Top-3 placing.
Before Coach Trimble’s team heads to Newton to compete in the SAC tournament, they made a detour to Willow Park, TX, to participate in the Texas Wesleyan Spring Invitational at Squaw Creek Golf Course. The team secured a fourth-place finish while Tres Hill topped the singles leaderboard for the second straight tournament.
When catching up with Coach Trimble, he talked to The Campus about his squad’s individual success and how that has translated to the team’s success as a collective unit. The team seems to be getting incrementally better each day–the men’s team has had at least one golfer finish inside the Top-4 of every tournament this Spring, including wins from Tres Hill and Michael Robson and a second-place finish by Lorenzo Santinelli.
When asked about how important confidence is for the team as they navigate the rest of their regular season, Coach Trimble stated, “Confidence is huge for our guys. You can almost say confidence is more important than skill in some cases. And it seems like all of our guys are confident and getting more and more confident heading into Conference and hopefully Nationals.”
Even though the Stars are playing great golf right now it is important to always find ways to strengthen skillsets and improve as a team. Coach Trimble would like to see his guys strive to become at least one percent better every day, which would help them grow into more consistent players.
Strengthening the short game is a prime area of focus for the Stars, “We know if our short game is bulletproof, we will be tough to beat!”, added Trimble.
With both the men’s and women’s teams nationally ranked inside the Top-10 for the NAIA Top-25 golf rankings, the Stars won’t be able to fly under the radar going into postseason play. This makes it even more important for both coaches to keep the fire hot under their teams while making sure the rosters continue to strive for greatness.
The Stars are primed to finish strong on the proverbial back nine of this Spring’s golf season. Next stop…Newton, KS.
The men’s roster includes graduate student Carson Breckenridge, seniors Ben Thionnet, Bo Robbins, and Boston Benn, juniors Michael Robson, Tres Hill, and Caleb Allen, sophomore Lorenzo Santinelli, and first-year student-athlete Alex Jordan.
The women’s roster comprises juniors Paige Wood, Maddi Kamas, Jamie Welsh, Meghan Charles, sophomores Aubrey House, Carrie Bowers, and Logan Allen.
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