LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — The University of Northwestern Ohio Racers men’s golf team is preparing for another trip to the national stage after a dominant regular season.

The Racers finished the year with a 75-13-1 record and captured the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference championship.

As a result, UNOH earned the automatic bid to the NAIA Men’s Golf National Championship, which will be held at TPC Deere Run.

Head coach Eric West says the Racers have treated every tournament throughout the season as preparation for nationals.

“The biggest thing we try to do is we treat it like every event,” West said. “We play a very strong schedule, and so we play nationally ranked tournaments throughout the year. A lot of the teams that we're going to see at Nationals, we've seen throughout the year. So it's just another event for the guys.”

West added that the team’s chemistry has been one of its biggest strengths this season.

“The biggest thing we try to do is we put our work in on days like today, and then at tournament time, we try to relax and go have fun,” West said. “Our team chemistry is strong. These guys genuinely love each other. They fight for each other out there. That's something that we really teach right away day one.”

Freshman Kyle Sutton said the team has continued to improve throughout the spring season.

“It means a lot. These guys have welcomed me from the start, and it's just great to have this experience and this opportunity,” Sutton said. “I would say, at the start of the spring, we started off with some struggles, but we quickly found our stride, and it's been good since then.”

Sutton believes the Racers are heading into nationals with confidence.

“I think we're feeling good going into nationals,” Sutton said. “We've been playing some good golf, and hope to continue it here this week.”

Meanwhile, Guillermo Garron said the team has learned how to stay focused and trust the process throughout the season.

“I've just known that sometimes you just need to put your head down and just keep going,” Garron said. “And I feel like we've learned how to do this over this year.”

Garron added that execution and consistency will be key at nationals.

“We really just want to get in our zone, and that's one of the most important things we need to do,” Garron said. “So we need to dial our numbers down and just get our misses to one side. If we narrow that to just the course, we're going to be able to play well and play our best.”

Tags