The wait is over for the Raiders — they’ll play in the Invitational at Savannah (Ga.) Feb. 20-21 — and Arlinghaus fully expects some carry-over from last season.
They captured their first Horizon League title in 15 years in the spring of 2019, coming from four down on the last day to win by eight. And they went bonkers the rest of the year and beyond before being shut down for COVID-19.
They captured tournaments at Dayton, Valparaiso and George Mason with Denmark native Mikkel Mathiesen, Springboro product Austin Schoonmaker and Carroll grad Tyler Goeke all winning individual crowns.
They also set the 54-hole team record in an event at Marshall.
“We had a whole list of goals we were well on our way to accomplishing last year,” the coach said.
After the long hiatus, they reassembled last month with a mini-trip to Florida, and Arlinghaus was pleased to see his players’ progress.
“I told them when we shut down, ‘Ok, let’s find ways to get better individually.’ And I’m super fortunate that I have seven or eight guys with insanely good work ethics.
“They don’t need me to be around. I wasn’t ALLOWED to be around. They got better while other programs sat down and said, ‘Woe is me.’”
The Raiders return almost their whole squad after Schoonmaker took advantage of the NCAA “Covid rule” granting athletes in all sports a free year of eligibility.
He was named all-league last season and is the team’s No. 1 player again, although, given Wright State’s stacked roster, that isn’t always clear-cut.
“Quite frankly, we probably have seven No. 1 guys,” Arlinghaus said.
Huber Heights native Bryce Haney and Cole Corder made the conference all-tourney team last season.
Davis Root and Nathan Arnold also are experienced. And the Raiders picked up an impact player in Cam Willis, a grad transfer from Wittenberg who was medalist (and the only player under par) at the NCAC championships.
Although he’ll have a hard time paring his squad down to the standard five players, Arlinghaus is grateful to have quality back-ups because teams will be tested multiple times at each event.
“When we got back from Florida, which was three days before school started, I jokingly said, ‘You can all kiss your moms, grandmas and girlfriends good-bye. I don’t want you seeing anybody. If you see somebody, the bubble gets bigger,” he said.
“We’re deep, and thank goodness we are because you never know who could be asymptomatic and test positive.”
The glow hasn’t worn off from the league title yet — probably because few saw it coming.
“That was the first event we won in 2019,” Arlinghaus said. “We weren’t tearing it up, but we were kind of trending. It came together at the right time.
“The spillover to that is confidence. You can see it in their eyes. They believe they can win. That’s invaluable.”
The 44-year-old Arlinghaus, who is in his fourth year, also knows how to push the right buttons. That’s the psychology in his background.
And he has credibility with his players because he competes with them in summer events.
At the MVGA Metropolitan championship at Piqua Country Club last July, he shot even-par over four rounds, which included a 66, on his way to a tie for 10th.
“I tell our guys, ‘If I play in the same tournament as you, and I beat you, you have to give me a signed golf ball,’” Arlinghaus said with a laugh.
That didn’t work out too well at Piqua — not that he minded at all.
Schoonmaker won for the second straight year, while Willis was second, Corder third, Mathiesen fifth and Root and Goecke tied for sixth. It was a dominant display that felt like a sign of things to come.
Arlinghaus may not have added any souvenirs to his golf ball collection, but he left the course a happy man.
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