Maegan Vincent/ The Sunflower
Aston Castillo watches his ball fly. Castillo, a junior, practiced his short game during practice on Sept. 23 at Crestview Country Club.
Teaser: Men’s golf began its season at the Rams Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, Colorado. They finished eighth.
Fourth-year Head Coach Judd Easterling said that the expectations to perform this year are high.
“This is probably the deepest team that I’ve had since being at Wichita State,” Easterling said.
Easterling said his goal this season is to take more players to tournaments to allow them more playing time and experience. He said that there has to be a good culture to be able to compete and have fun on the golf course while playing with teammates.
“I think we were a little nervous, getting the bugs out of you know the systems and you know getting a first term out of the way but I saw a lot of good stuff,” Easterling said.
Senior Dawson Lewis has been on the team for five years.
“I’ve kind of been the one to set good examples and kind of coach my team around and lead them in the right way,” Dawson said.
Lewis said he has been in the leadership role for almost three years.
“We have an incredible group of guys,” Dawson said. “Just a core good group, fierce competitors and we have a lot of fun and we have a lot of talent too,” Dawson said.
Dawson said his advice to younger players is to keep their priorities straight.
“Golf is a reason we all came to WSU, so that’s our number one priority,” Dawson said.
Aston Castillo is a junior transfer from Midland, Texas.
“I felt almost like a freshman again, just because I had to meet new people and make new friends with all the different athletes and it just felt like a brand new start again,” Castillo said.
Castillo said he is excited to start playing with the golf team and hopes to see how much potential the team can have.
“I think we’re still pretty young as a team, so I think we can all improve on our mental game and just getting better off the course as a team,” Castillo said.
Freshman Matthew Sandoz is from Chester, United Kingdom.
Sandoz said he looks forward to playing with his teammates in the winter because the weather conditions will permit in the United States. He said in the United Kingdom, there is too much precipitation to play.
“Playing different grasses, the weather, the way the courses are designed,” Sandoz said.
The Shockers will host a tournament for the first time in several years — The Grier Jones Shocker Invitational is on Oct. 10-11 at Crestview Country Club.
“We named it after the previous coach that I played for then I took over for who has done so much for Wichita State men’s golf,” Easterling said.
Wichita State’s Men’s Golf will play against Southern Methodist at the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas, Texas on Oct. 2-4.