2022-23b Shocker Men's Golf

[WuDrWu]

One of only 3 teams over par so far today (it's early) and 31 strokes behind SMU and 18 behind SMU's B team.


Now alone in last.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Men's Golf Wraps Up Play at Trinity Forest Invitational

And it wasn't pretty.

DALLAS - The Wichita State men's golf team finished 17th at the Trinity Forest Invitational at Trinity Forest Golf Club.

The Shockers posted a team score of 17-over--881, signing for scores of 290, 295, and 296.

Junior Aston Castillo (71-72-73--216) led the Shockers at even-par, and was in position for his first top-20 finish as a Shocker before three bogeys and a double down the stretch forced him to settle for a tie for 32nd. He had just two bogeys to open the tournament on Sunday, and carded a team-best 12 birdies in total.

Michael Winslow (72-76-72--220) finished at four-over, avoiding any double-bogeys while finishing with eight birdies. Winslow finished the tournament with the team's best score on Par 3s (3.00).

Blake Lorenz (75-72-78--225) saw a solid tournament spoiled by a six-over final day, ending in a tie for 72nd at +9 overall. Dawson Lewis (72-81-73--226) finished right behind Lorenz on the leaderboard in a tie for 77th at 10-over.

JT Pittman (77-75-80--232) rounded out the Wichita State lineup in a tie for 88th at 16-over.

The Shockers return home to host the first Grier Jones Shocker Invitational on October 10-11 at Crestview Country Club.

[1972Shocker]

This Dallas course was apparently a much easier layout than the Shocker women played on in Omaha even thought he course in Omaha was pretty short.

The Shocker women won their 9-team tournament in Omaha with a score of 50-over par. In Dallas, the Shocker men finished 17th in a 17 team field with a score of 17-over par. Tournament winner Little Rock was 31-under par.

The Shocks finished behind 5 current or future AAC programs. They finished 45 strokes behind 2nd place SMU plus 33 strokes behind SMU's B team.

Doesn't exactly bode well for the Shocks prospects in the AAC. But it is what it is. Fortunately, as with women's golf the success of the teams have relatively little impact on the financial situation in the WSU athletic department. Looks like were a long way away from having golf contribute to the competitive goals of the 5-Year Strategic plan. But as with women's golf the men's golf team will contribute to the academic and community goals and they help fulfill the requirements for maintaining D-1 status and membership for the overall athletics program.

[1972Shocker]

Men's Golf Hosts First Grier Jones Shocker Invitational

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/10/7/mens-golf-hosts-first-grier-jones-shocker-invitational.aspx

For the first time since 2012, the Wichita State men's golf program will host a home tournament as the Grier Jones Shocker Invitational comes to Crestview Country Club on October 10-11.

The Grier Jones Shocker Invitational will include ten teams: Air Force, Drake, Hutchinson, Indian Hills, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Omaha, South Dakota, Utah Valley and Wichita State. Four individuals from Oklahoma State will also compete. Hutchinson and Indian Hills are two of the top junior college golf programs in the country, ranking #1 and #12 in the final 2021 NJCAA rankings, respectively.

After finishing 17th at the Trinity Forest Invitational last week in Dallas, head coach Judd Easterling has tweaked the lineup. Blake Lorenz and Michael Winslow will once again play as the numbers one and two, respectively, with Aston Castillo and Dawson Lewis in the number three and four positions. True freshman Matthew Sandoz is set to make his collegiate debut, replacing J.T. Pittman in the lineup. Pittman, Lucas Scheufler and Tate Herrenbruck will all compete as individuals.

Live Stats

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While it is not an especially tough tournament field it will be interesting to see how the Shockers fare on a course they should be familiar with.

[1972Shocker]

After Round 1 of the Grier Jones Shocker Invitational the Shocker were in 5th place at 5-over par. Northern Iowa was leading at even par.

Michael Winslow and Aston Castilo both shot even par 71, Dawson Lewis was 2-over and Blake Lorenze was 3-over. Mathew Sandoz had the throw away score at 5-over.

The 3 Shockers competing as indviduals were Lucas Schuefler 1-over, J.T. Pittman 2-over and Tate Herrenbruck 6-over.

Nearing the midway point of the 2nd round this afternoon the Shockers are in 4th place trailing Indian Hills CC by 5 shots and Hutchinson CC and Utah Valley by 4-shots.

Maybe Coach Easterling should spend a little time recruiting the top Indian Hills and Hutch golfers.

[WuDrWu]

Lucas Scheufler got off to a nice start. He start on the par 5 14th and went eagle, birdie, bogey, par, birdie, birdie, birdie, par par and finished his first 9 at 5 under.

The team has (so far) among the 8 players, 1 eagle, 17 birdies, 19 bogies, 5 doubles and a triple. Consistency would appear to be an issue early on this season.

[1972Shocker]

Lucas Scheufler got off to a nice start. He start on the par 5 14th and went eagle, birdie, bogey, par, birdie, birdie, birdie, par par and finished his first 9 at 5 under.

The team has (so far) among the 8 players, 1 eagle, 17 birdies, 19 bogies, 5 doubles and a triple. Consistency would appear to be an issue early on this season.

Unfortunately, Lucas is now 1-over with 3 holes to play in round 2. Dawson Lewis is having a nice, consistent round at 4-under with 5 to play in round 2. He has 4 birdies and 9 pars through 13 holes.

I think a lot of what goes on in the fall is experimentation to seeing how guys react playing against outside competition.

Consistency has been an issue for a long while. Perhaps that is somewhat endemic to college golf. Consistency and depth are the keys for the Shockers to improve.

The Shocks have moved into first place, 2 shots ahead of Utah Valley, with 3 guys having 4 holes to play and 2 guys have 5 holes to go.

The Shocks shoot the best score of round 2 at 4-under par and maintain a 1-shot lead over Utah Valley heading into the final round tomorrow. Hutch CC and Drake were the only other teams to shoot under par in round 2 both at 2-under par. Hutch and Drake are tied for 3rd at 6-over par, 5 strokes behind the Shocks.

Dawson Lewis led the Shocks in round 2 with a 4-under 67 followed by Blake Lorenz and Aston Castillo both at 1-under 70 and Matthew Sandoz at 2-over 73. Blake Lorenz had a big eagle on the par 5 18th that kept the Shocks in the lead. Michael Winslow had the throw away score at 6-over 77.

Playing as individuals Lucas Scheufler shot even par 71, J.T. Pittman was 2-over 73 and Tate Herrenbruck struggled to a 10-over 81.

[1972Shocker]

Looks like they are using a shotgun start for Round 3 today. Michael Winslow who struggle a bit in round 2 yesterday started his round on #2 and is off to a birdie-birdie start.

Double bogeys by Dawson Lewis on the par 3 #5 hole and Blake Lorenz on the par 4 #6 hole have allowed Utah Valley to tie it up 5 holes into the final round at 2-over par. Drake is in 3rd place at 11-over par.

[shoxlax]

Is Crestview really the only course here suitable for D1 golf tournaments? Seems like they have them occasionally at Sand Creek as well.

[1972Shocker]

Is Crestview really the only course here suitable for D1 golf tournaments? Seems like they have them occasionally at Sand Creek as well.

I don't think the number of suitable courses is an issue. I think there are plenty. However, the private courses are not always open to hosting tournaments. I know that hosting the Korn Ferry event at Crestview is not unanimously liked by the Crestview membership.

The Shocks simply don't host many tournaments at home. As you can see they haven't exactly drawn a very big or a very strong field of the initial Grier Jones Invitational. But that is partly to be expected as many teams develop relationships with tournaments over time. The Shocks themselves play in a lot of the same tournaments year after year.

Also while our fall weather can be pretty nice hosting tournaments in the 'spring' is probably a bit tougher with our generally cool and windy conditions in the spring and that's not attractive to a lot of teams. Even the Shocks tend to head south in the spring for tournaments.

The Shocker men hosted a tournament at Wichita Country Club in September 2012, the NCAA Championships were played at Prairie Dunes in May 2014 and they hosted the MVC Championships in April 2016 at Prairie Dunes. The Shocker women hosted a fall MVC Preview tournament at Sand Creek Station in October 2015.

We'll have to see how the Grier Jones Invitational develops. Will they move it around to different golf courses? Will they, over time, be able to attract larger and higher quality teams? Only time will tell.

[1972Shocker]

Got a dogfight going on. The Shocks and Utah Valley are tied at 2-over with 7 holes to play.

Shocks edge into a 2 shot lead with 4 holes to play. But that lead can disappear with one bad hole.

The Shocks have extended the leads to 4 shots with 2 holes to play.

Shocks finish of the day with team score of even par for the final round and 1-over for the Tournament for a 4 shot win over Utah Valley.

On the day sophomore Michael Winslow led the way with a 2-under 69, followed by freshman Matthew Sandoz followed at 1-under 70, junior Astin Castiallo at even par 70 and senior Dawson Lewis at 3-over 74 playing his final 8 holes in 2-under. Junior Blake Lorenz had the throw away score 4-over 75.

For the tournament the Shocks shot 1-over 853 with the following scorecards:

Aston Castillo 71-70-71 = 212
Dawson Lewis 73-67-74 = 214
Michael Winslow 71-77-69 = 217
Blake Lorenz 74-70-75 = 219
Matthew Sandoz 76-73-70 = 219

Clearly Aston, one our juco juniors from Midland CC, was the most steady and dependable. I did like the way that Mathew Sandoz, the freshman from the U.K., improved steadily from round-to-round in his first action as a Shocker.

Utah Valley's Brady McKinlay ran away with individual medalist honors shooting 11-under 202 for the tournament, 7 shots clear of the field. Shocker Aston Castillo finished 4th individually, Dawson Lewis was 5th and Michael Winslow was in a 6-way tie for 10th.

The 3 Shockers playing as individuals had the following scores:
Lucas Scheufler 72-71-74 = 217
J.T. Pittman 73-73-77 = 223
Tate Herrenbruck 77-81-73 = 231

Not a great field but always nice to take home a trophy especially when you are hosting. This is a relatively young group with only 1 senior plus 3 juniors, 3 sophomores and 1 freshman. Adam Balatka, sophomore from the Czech Republic, did not play.

If they can develop a bit more consistency from 1 through 5 they could improve on their 7th place finish (of 9 teams) in last year's AAC Tournament. Long way to go until then so we will watch for improvement along the way.

[1972Shocker]

Men's Golf Finishes Fall at TPC Colorado

https://goshockers.com/news/2022/10/...-colorado.aspx

The Wichita State men's golf team seeks to build off a team title as they conclude the fall portion of the schedule with a trip to Denver for the TPC Colorado at Heron Lakes Intercollegiate.

Play begins on Monday, October 17 and runs through Wednesday, with 18 holes on the schedule each day.

The Shocker lineup features the same five from last time out at Crestview: Aston Castillo, Dawson Lewis, Michael Winslow, Blake Lorenz and Matthew Sandoz. Lucas Scheufler will compete as an individual.

After playing Crestview at just 6,939 yards, the Shockers will be faced with their longest course of the season at TPC Colorado. Playing as a par-72, the course is listed at 8,001 yards. But it is at altitude.

The tournament features 10 teams, plus individuals from Colorado, Oklahoma State and Wyoming. Other participants are Air Force, Boise State, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Denver, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, St. Thomas, and Tarleton State.

Looks like a tougher field than the Shocks hosted at Crestview CC last week. Colorado State is ranked 16th nationally and Brigham Young is ranked 39th so they will be the favorites.

Live Stats

[1972Shocker]

Not a good start for the Shocker men in Colorado as the Shockers find themselves at the bottom of the heap after shooting 19-over in round 1 putting them 20 shots behind leader Colorado State.

The back 9 was partcularly tough on the Shocks as they carded 16 bogeys, 3 double bogies and only 4 birdies in their combined 45 holes.

Blake Lorenz shot a 2-over 74 followed by Astin Castillo and Michale Winslow both at 5-over 77, and Dawson Lewis at 7 over 79. Mathhew Sandoz had the throw away score at 10-over 82.

Lucas Scheufler, playing as an individual, carded a 7-over 79.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks came in at 11-over in Round 2 in Colorado which is 8 strokes better than they were in Round 1 and sit at 30-over par after 2 rounds. Nevertheless they are still sitting at the bottom of barrel except after round 2, a bad Air Force team, has dropped into a tie with the Shocks. Air Force is one of two teams who had a worse score in round 2 than the Shocks. The other was Denver who was 1 shot worse in round 2 but are still 10 strokes ahead of the Shocks. The other 7 teams gained ground on the Shocks including leader Colorado State who shot a blazing 11-under par to move to 12-under for the tournament. BYU is 2nd at 7-under par.

This field has really been separated between the top 5 and the bottom 5. The top 5 are a combined 5-over par after 2 rounds. The bottom 54 are 127-over par after 2 rounds.

Dawson Lewis led the Shocks with a 1-over 73 followed by Astin Castillo and Blake Lorenz both at 3-over 75, and Mathew Sandoz both at 4-over 76. Michael Winslow had the throw away score at 7-over 79.

Lucas Scheufler, playing as an individual, shot 6-over 78.

Things not going all that well for the Shocks in this one.

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks shot by far their best round in Colorado in today's final round with a 5-over par score as they finished at 35-over par in a too little, to late performance. They did manage to move up from a tie for 9th (last) with Air Force to finish 6th which was about the best they could have hoped far based on their position after 2 rounds.

Three teams finished the tournament under par with 16th ranked Colorado State winning the tournament at 12-under par followed by 39th ranked Brigham Young at 8-under par and North Dakota State at 6 under par. North Dakota State had the best round of the tournament today putting up a 15-under par team score for the final round.

Blake Lorenz lead the Shocks in round 3 with a 1-under 71 followed by Michael Winslow at 1-over 73, Mathew Sandoz at 2-over 74 and Astin Castillo and Dawson Lewis both at 3-over 75 with one those 75's not counting in the team scoring.

Lucas Scheufler, playing as an individual, match Blake Lorenz with his own 1-under par 71.

Individually, Blake Lorenze finished in a 6-way tie for 16th. None of the other Shockers were in the top 40 for the tournament as the Shockers fall season comes to a close and I thought with a somewhat disappointing showing. They start up again in mid-February in Palm Desert, CA in a tournament hosted by Wyoming.