Despite not starting the year ranked, the Trojans men’s golf team is in the hunt to break into the Top 25 with a young and hungry core.
The Trojans have welcomed five freshmen to the roster and have no seniors. This is the first of two seasons where the team can mesh together and learn how best to encourage each other on the course.
Nearing the end of September, the Trojans have two events under their belt. First, they dominated at the Player’s Club Invitational, finishing 26 strokes clear of Northwest Ohio University with junior Matthew Albright tying for first place with junior Sam Firebaugh from Indiana University East, and junior Kyle Kasitz and sophomore Tanner Conklin tying for third place.
Albright and the rest of the upperclassmen have taken on the role of helping guide the freshmen and getting them acclimated to the collegiate athletics environment, being patient and letting the good results come before they build to the best results.
“If I can just glorify God, that’s enough,” Albright said about tying for first. “Me winning or kind of winning a golf tournament is just an added benefit of golf, but me glorifying him in all I do is my main priority when I play my sport and just showing others his love.”
In their second event, the Keiser Shootout, Taylor struggled out of the gate, finishing day one in seventh place, but fought back to a well-earned sixth place after day two. Freshman Porter Dick finished as the top Taylor athlete of the day in fourteenth place.
While finishing in sixth may not look like a stellar performance, the placement was more than successful. Facing some of the best competition in the nation, like No. 2 Keiser and No. 12 Southeastern, Taylor tied with No. 14 Saint Thomas and finished above both No. 23 Lawrence Tech and No. 25 Ave Maria.
“Our men realized two really important things,” head coach Lorne Oke said about their events. “Golf is hard…and they are very good and can compete at the national level.”
The Trojans are the first team sitting outside the Top 25, with a high chance of crossing that barrier, and will continue their road to winning their first conference championship since 2022 at the one-day Grace Invitational on Sep. 30.
Entering the Top 25 will mean even more this year as NAIA golf continues to use the SPIKEMARK system, guaranteeing teams in the top 20 a spot in the National Championships even if they don’t win their conference. As they go throughout the season, the Trojans will be focusing on a much higher goal than just winning each tournament they come across.
“We as athletes take a lot of pride in our sports,” Albright said. “But I want others to realize that athletics, while it’s a big part of who we are, it’s not who we are. It’s a part of who we are. I go onto the course, I’m trying to glorify God first and show his love to the people I’m playing with.”
