Brendan McFadden | Banner Christopher Carew, freshman business administration major, puts in practice on the driving range during a short break during the team’s tournament circuit.
The men’s and women’s golf teams at California Baptist University have seen an increase in success in recent tournaments and have been awarded with top-tier rankings in NCAA Division II for their hard work and lowered handicaps.
As of September, the Lancers have achieved a program-best rank of 15th in their division, an improvement from Golfstat’s February ranking of the team at No. 25 in the polls.
The success may be due largely to an increased practice regimen as well as determination from both teams to maintain their standings out on
the links.
“It has been a total team effort,” said John Hackney, head coach. “It is really nice to see the women were front-runners in the first tournament and showed resolve in the second to finish strong.”
The women’s team is currently ranked No. 15 overall in NCAA DII, but are fighting to continually post low scores in order to remain at the top.
“In my opinion, we have five No. 1 players in our top five,” said Taylor Hoag, senior marketing major. “The chemistry is great, everybody does a really good job of supporting each other and it makes a difference.”
Hoag said the team encourages one another continually.
“Success for us comes from pushing each other,” Hoag said.
The women’s team finished fourth at the Dixie State Invitational Oct. 5-6 after a strong comeback effort. Their next series of matches will be at the Dallas Baptist Classic at Dallas Baptist University.
At their season preview tournament at the Western New Mexico Intercollegiate, the men’s team placed fourth overall, finishing four strokes off of the leading California State-Monterey Bay team.
“There were some growing pains and adjustments made with the men’s team last year,” Hackney said. “This year, they are ready and experienced. They are starting to realize that on any given day, we can beat anybody.”
Glenn Hakes, senior business administration and political science double major and team captain, said the team is starting to find its chemistry.
“We all know that we have talent and seeing it in the results of our tournaments reaffirms that belief when we finish with top-ranked teams at tournaments,” Hakes said.
