Men’s golf starts in the spring

PALMIAUMANA, California The Wichita State men’s golf team opens the spring portion of the schedule on Friday, Feb. 10 with a trip to the Wyoming Desert Match Play in Palm Desert, California. This is the second year in a row that the Shockers will start the spring in the match event.

Last season, the Shockers went 1-2 and dropped close battles against Boise State and Colorado before routing Air Force to end the contest.

The field features eight teams ranked 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 Friday against No. 2 San Diego, with the game starting at 8:00 a.m. CST. Wichita State will then face the winner or loser of Friday afternoon’s San Francisco-Boise State game. The game ends with one game on Saturday.

Fans can follow the scoring live Gulf State.

Unlike traditional tournaments, which feature five golfers from each team with reduced scores, the match format allows six golfers per team to compete against the opposite number. This week’s competition, hosted by Wyoming, will be held at the Classic Club. 7,305 yard course 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

“In match play, you have to hate losing,” head coach Judd Easterling said. “It’s mano a mano, it’s you against the other guy. It’s so different from the punch game. You almost have to be a little bit mean to compete. We don’t get to play the match a lot, so that’s why we like to go to this unique event and it’s a great way to start spring.”

Wichita State takes the lineup Blake Lorenz, Aston Castillo, Michael Winslow, Lucas Scheufler, Dawson Lewis and Tate Herrenbruck. Everyone competes against their opposite number in a match game format.

“With the six guys we’re taking, I don’t see any of them giving up,” Easterling said. “If you start a match bad, it’s obviously pretty easy to give up and cash in. But I don’t see any giving up on these guys, they’re going to fight no matter how many holes they have. They are going to fight until the end.”

The Wyoming Desert Match Play is WSU’s only action in February. The Shockers return to action March 5 at Auburn’s Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner in Opelika, Alabama.

2023 Wyoming Desert Match Quick Facts:
Dates:Friday-Saturday 10-11 February 2023
Host: Wyoming
Location:Palm Desert, California (Classic Club)
Farmyard: 7.305 yards
Par: 72
Form:Match Play (match 1 and 2 on Friday, match 3 on Saturday)
Start times: Game 1 (8:00 a.m. CT), Game 2 (12:30 p.m.), Game 3 (TBD – Results Pending)
Live scores: golfstat.com
Field: 8 teams (ranked according to the latest Golfstat ranking)

#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 the last fall tournament, finishing 16th at TPC Colorado…73 average tied with Castillo for the top spot
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 his varsity debut in this event a year ago and finished 1-2…73.2 average in the fall, third best on the list
Lucas Scheufler (So.) posted a final-round 71 at TPC Colorado while competing as an individual, highlighted by birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th…went 1-1-1 in the match last season
Dawson Lewis (Sr.) led the Shockers with 10 birdies at TPC Colorado and tied with Castillo at 42…went 2-1 at the event last season.
Tate Herrenbruck(R-So.) went 0-2-1 in his collegiate debut last season in this event…posted a final-round 73 at the Grier Jones Invitational, a career best.

The head coach Judd Easterling on.

The team’s preparation for spring:

“Considering the weather situation, the whole team has invested in what we can. Whether it’s completely indoors or hitting balls on the fairway in the freezing cold. When it’s been nice outside, we’ve been able to play and compete. With the bad weather this week, I think we’ve managed to get on the grass and survive.”

Play Lucas Scheufler:

“Luke is the guy we never have to worry about. He sends (assistant coach) Josh Gliege swing videos almost daily on things he’s working on and still takes lessons weekly. He’s the guy who’s the first one to practice every day and the last one to leave. We know exactly what we’re getting Lucas Scheufler.”

Strategy in match game format:

“It’s a fine line. Of course you want to play every hole as well as possible, but you have to pay attention to what your opponent is doing based on their shots and what they’re doing. We create a Game Plan for each hole and then based on the scenario that each player is in, we go from there. “