They had a relatively tight, four-stroke win in the 13-team Big Blue Intercollegiate in Nashville earlier this week, and they snagged a one-stroke victory at Valparaiso in September. But their other five victories have come by an average of 19.6 strokes.
Their cumulative record is 131-10.
When coach Conner Lash, a former Wright State player, took over the program last fall, his message to the players was to maximize their college years — before life gets busy with families and jobs — to see how good they could get.
They’ve taken that message to heart. But he added: “I don’t have to do a ton with this group. They’re so individually motivated and want to be as good as they can. That’s what makes them so special. I don’t have to hold their hand. They know what’s at stake.”
The Raiders won seven tourneys one season in their DivisionII days, but since joining D-I in 1989, they’ve never won more than three.
“These guys love each other and push each other. I always say a team run by the players is better than a team run by the coaches. And they’ve gone full bore with that,” Lash said.
The Raiders can break the all-time victory mark if they defend their title at the Wright State Invitational at Heatherwoode GC. They have 12 teams signed up and will play 36 holes Sunday and 18 Monday.
After that, they’ll gear up for the Horizon League tourney April 24-26 at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
The Raiders won their first conference crown in 15 years in 2019 at the Mission Hills resort course. The event was cancelled in 2020, and they were upset by Oakland when it was moved to West Lafayette, Ind., last year.
But while golf can be a fickle game, the Raiders’ depth will make them tough to beat.
Tyler Goecke, a junior from Carroll High School, has won three individual titles this season and is on pace to break Ryan Wenzler’s school record for lowest average.
Goecke has a 70.14 mark in 29 rounds, safely ahead of Wenzler’s 71.73 average in 2016-17.
Bryce Haney, a fifth-year senior from Wayne, captured the Dayton Flyer Invitational. Senior Cole Corder won at Ball State with the help of a 62, tying Charlie Doll’s 11-year-old school record for low round. And Mikkel Mathiesen, a junior from Denmark, was medalist at Valpo.
Senior Davis Root has three top-15 finishes in five tries this spring.
“That’s what makes this team so good,” Lash said. “Obviously, Tyler is playing at a really high level. Right now, you could say he’s our 1 man. But if you look at the other four guys with their scores and wins … it’s not like two or three are carrying us. It’s a whole team effort.”
Five players compete each round, but only four scores count.
“We have a sense of security,” Goecke said. “We know if we’re not playing well, we’ve got four other guys behind us who are. If we make a couple bogeys, you’re not worried because you know you have guys who can pick you up.”
Though breaking the all-time wins record would be noteworthy, the Raiders would view it as hollow achievement if it doesn’t come with NCAA tourney success, too.
They’ve never fared well in five trips to the regionals. They finished 13th among 14 teams in 2019 in Pullman, Wash.
But confidence is soaring. They believe they have the firepower to play with the perennial powers this season.
“We have goals. We want to set records. But we really want to win the conference and make it out of the regionals,” Lash said.
“We think with the team we’ve got, if we peak at the right time and play good golf, we can definitely do that.”
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