By Archie Wyatt
Tuesday, April 25, proved a historic day for CSU Pueblo’s golf program as both the Men and Women’s programs clinched the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles.
The women won wire-to-wire and came out on top by an extremely impressive 27 strokes. Furthermore, Junior Kylie Severin and Sophomore Zoey Rodriguez shared the individual medalist honors, giving them their second-season win. Coach Koscheke commented, “Wow, what a week! I was looking for a full team effort this week, and that’s exactly what we got. Extremely proud of our women at the #3,#4, and #5 spots – Freya Constable, Zoey Rodriguez, and Anju Ogi. Especially proud of Kylie and Zoey, who won once again and showed what they’re capable of.
As a result of their win, the women have qualified for the upcoming NCAA Regional tournament at the Golf Club of Dallas, TX, May 8-10. “Really excited for the women who have earned their opportunity to further extend their season in Texas. If they can carry this momentum forward and continue their consistent play, the sky’s the limit”, Koschke added.
Meanwhile, it was another historic victory for the Men’s program, equaling the RMAC record of three consecutive wins at the Conference tournament. Nevertheless, it wasn’t as straightforward as Coach Koschke would have liked, “Every time I refreshed the live scoring, the leaderboard changed; it was chaos.”
The Thunderwolves were trailing the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs by six shots heading into the final round, however with windy conditions forecast, the men were quietly confident, “Coming from 6 behind, the wind played right into our hands. The guys are great wind players, and we knew what we had to do”, Koschke said.
Freshman, Archie Wyatt, made an essential birdie on 18 in regulation play which left the Pack sitting at -15 for the tournament, -3 for the day after Liam Duncan also posted the low round at -2.
The Pack had to do it the hard way, as after all the scores were finalized, they had tied with Colorado Christian at -15. As a result, both teams headed to the 18th tee to face off in a playoff. All five players from each team battled it out in the same group. However, it was the Thunderwolves who prevailed. With Jamie Roberts, Liam Duncan, Archie Wyatt, and Jeff Nelson all in for par, Junior Matt Millar rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt to win the playoff against Colorado Christian by one shot. “That playoff will stay with me forever. Those moments are why we all work so hard, and I’m just so delighted for the men who proved they can still win championships without having their A-game”. Koschke added.
The Men’s team is next in action May 11-13 at Foxtail Golf Club as they look to defend their title and make it to the National Championship for the third year running.
