South Wichita News

Men's Golf Kicks Off Spring Play

The Wichita State men's golf team opens the spring portion of the schedule on Friday, February 10 with a trip to the Wyoming Desert Match Play in Palm Desert, California. This is the second straight year the Shockers begin the spring at the match play event.

Last season the Shockers went 1-2, dropping close battles against Boise State and Colorado before routing Air Force to finish the competition. 

 

The field includes eight teams seeded 1-8: #1 Colorado, #2 San Diego, #3 San Francisco, #4 Wyoming, #5 Seattle, #6 Boise State, #7 Wichita State, and #8 South Dakota State. The Shockers open on Friday against #2 San Diego, with play beginning at 8:00 am CST. Wichita State then takes on the winner or loser of the San Francisco-Boise State match on Friday afternoon. Play concludes with a single match on Saturday.

Fans can follow live scoring via golfstat.

Unlike traditional tournaments which feature five golfers from each team with the lowest score dropped, the match play format allows for six golfers per squad competing against their opposite number. This week's competition, which is hosted by Wyoming, will be held at Classic Club, a 7,305 yard course located near Joshua Tree National Park.

Match 1

#1 Colorado vs. #8 South Dakota State

Match 2

#4 Wyoming vs. #5 Seattle

Match 3

#2 San Diego vs. #7 Wichita State

Match 4

#3 San Francisco vs. #6 Boise State

"With match play, you have to hate losing," head coach Judd Easterling said. "It's mano a mano, it's you versus another guy. It's so much different from stroke play. You've got to be almost a little bit mean to compete. We don't get to play match play a lot, so that's why we love going to this unique event and it's a great way to start off the spring."

Wichita State deploys a lineup of Blake Lorenz, Aston Castillo, Michael Winslow, Lucas Scheufler, Dawson Lewis and Tate Herrenbruck. Each will compete against their opposite number in the match play format.

"With the six guys that we're taking, I don't see any quit in any of them," Easterling said. "If you get off to a bad start in match play, it's obviously pretty easy to give up and cash it in. But I don't see any give up in these guys, they're going to fight no matter how many holes they're down. They're going to fight to the end."

The Wyoming Desert Match Play is WSU's only action in the month of February. The Shockers will return to play on March 5 at Auburn's Tiger Invitational Presented by Jason Dufner in Opelika, Alabama.

2023 Wyoming Desert Match Play Fast Facts:

Dates: Friday-Saturday, Feb. 10-11, 2023

Host: Wyoming

Location: Palm Desert, Calif. (Classic Club)

Yardage: 7,305 Yard

Par: 72

Format: Match Play (Match 1 & 2 on Friday, Match 3 on Saturday)

Start Times: Match 1 (8:00 am CT), Match 2 (12:30 pm), Match 3 (TBD - pending results)

Live Scoring: golfstat.com

The Field: 8 teams (seeded according to latest Golfstat rankings)

#1 Colorado, #2 San Diego, #3 San Francisco, #4 Wyoming, #5 Seattle, #6 Boise State, #7 Wichita State, #8 South Dakota State

 

Shocker Lineup:

Blake Lorenz (Jr.) – had his best finish as a Shocker in final fall tournament, tying for 16th at TPC Colorado...73 average tied with Castillo for best on the roster

Aston Castillo (Jr.) – posted the second best par 5 score in the entire field at TPC Colorado (4.58)...led Shockers with 35 fall birdies

Michael Winslow (So.) – made collegiate debut in this event a year ago, finishing 1-2...73.2 average score in the fall, third best on the roster

Lucas Scheufler (So.) – delivered a final round 71 at TPC Colorado competing as an individual, highlighted by birdies on 15, 16 and 17...went 1-1-1 in match play last season

Dawson Lewis (Sr.) – led the Shockers with 10 birdies at TPC Colorado, tying with Castillo in 42nd...went 2-1 at this event last season

Tate Herrenbruck (R-So.) – went 0-2-1 in collegiate debut last season at this event...posted final round 73 at Grier Jones Invitational, the best score of his career

 

Head Coach Judd Easterling on….

 

… The team's preparation entering the spring:

"Given the weather situation, the whole team has been putting in the work however we can do it. Whether that's entirely indoors or hitting balls on the driving range in the cold. When it's been nice outside we've been able to play and compete and post some scores. With a week's bad weather I think we've been pretty okay with being able to get on grass and qualify."

… The play of Lucas Scheufler:

"Luke's that guy that we never have to worry about working at it. He sends (assistant coach) Josh Gliege swing videos almost daily of stuff he's working on and continues to get lessons weekly. He's the guy that's first to practice every day and last to leave. We know exactly what we're getting from Lucas Scheufler."

 

… The strategy in a match play format:

"It's a fine line. Obviously you want to play each hole the best you can, but you have to pay attention to what your opponent is doing based on their shots and what they're doing. We'll create a game plan for each hole and then based on the scenario that each player is in we'll go from there."

Original source can be found here.