OU men's golf team heads to Texas for redemption after poor finish in Las Vegas
After its last-place finish in Las Vegas a week ago, the No. 34 Oklahoma men’s golf team is looking to return to form this weekend at the Border Olympics in Laredo, Texas.
After a second- and a first-place finish to start the spring, the Sooners hit a wall at the prestigious Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, where they placed 15th behind 14 teams ranked in the top 50.
Coach Ryan Hybl said that the goal for this weekend is simply to rebound.
“(We’ll) try to redeem ourselves a little bit and see if we can go down and try and win a golf tournament and maybe regain some confidence,” he said.
Senior Abraham Ancer has been one of the team’s best golfers, with four top-20 finishes so far this year, and he said this will be a good tournament for the Sooners to bounce back.
“Last week was probably the greatest field of college golf in a tournament, so if you play bad in that type of field you’re going to do really bad,” Ancer said. “This tournament will help us gain confidence back, and start playing solid golf again so we can head out with good momentum.”
Though they are looking to build confidence, the Sooners aren’t overlooking anybody. The competition won’t be on the same level as what they faced last weekend, but it will still put up a fight.
“I don’t think it’s one of those events where we can go down there, roll the ball out and feel like we’re going to go win,” Hybl said.
Junior Eduardo Castiello and sophomore Michael Gellerman will be competing as individuals this weekend, with freshman Eloy Gonzalez taking Castiello’s spot in the lineup, Hybl said.
Castiello is coming off of a disappointing performance last weekend after recording his first top-20 finish of the season his last time out.
“The expectations are always to win, but for this tournament just trying to build that confidence up again,” Castiello said.
The Sooners need a strong finish this weekend to propel them down the final stretch of this season before the Big 12 tournament in April, and they seem poised to go out and redeem themselves.
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