Oiler golf starting out strong

By: Trent Williams
Twitter: withtrentw
Email: williamst4@findlay.edu

Four years ago, the Oiler Men’s Golf team was at the bottom of their conference. Now, they’ve won two out of the four tournaments they have played in so far, and have potential to send athletes to nationals this year.
Senior Nick Graf has high expectations for the team this season. Some of Graf’s goals include winning conference as a team, qualifying for the national championship, and developing leaders out of the underclassmen.
“My dad told me if you want something done, give it to someone who is busy” said Graf. “Time management is definitely something that has improved over my four years at Findlay. Balancing school work and athletics has helped me achieve this” Graf stated.
Luke Kelly, a sophomore finance major from Brownsburg, In. has set the tone for the future of the UF golf team. Two weeks ago, Kelly took first at GMAC Fall Invite, with the highlight of the day being his hole-in-one on the 12th hole.
“It’s awesome to be part of a team with so much potential. Our newer members are constantly improving the team,” Kelly said.
Kelly explains that he always knew he wanted to continue his golf career in college since starting high school. “My dream is to eventually make it to the PGA Tour” Kelly exclaimed.
As the PGA tour is a dream of Kelly’s, Graf explains how the team goes about their own goal-setting.
“As a team, instead of focusing on specific goals, we’ve decided a phrase to encompass the team would be better,” said Graff. “’Machine’ is what we came up with, a unit consisting of working parts that need each other to perform tasks. The team is very reliant on one another, and I feel that is why we have accomplished the things we have.”
Dominic Guarnieri is the head coach of both the men and women’s golf teams. This is his fifth year as the head golf coach.
“The team is looking good so far, we have won two out of the four tournaments we’ve competed in so far, with two remaining” Guarnieri said. “We have a very young team, with four out of our top seven players being sophomores.”
Just like Graff and Kelly, Coach Guarnieri is excited for the future of the team.
“I believe the younger members of the team will be phenomenal leaders moving forward.”
Guarnieri explains he is not a big believer in number based goals, but to improve as a whole everyday.
For a complete schedule of the UF Men’s Golf team check out http://athletics.findlay.edu/sports/mgolf/2017-18/schedule

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