PHX Reporter

Ottawa University-Phoenix issued the following announcement on July 22

The season for the men’s and women’s golf teams could have easily been different after the summer the programs went through. It was highlighted by a surprise coaching change, and most teams in any sport in year one under a new coach have mixed results. Instead, the men’s team looked poised to win the school’s first NAIA National Championship, and the women’s squad staked its claim for best team in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

A new head coach usually involves a sense of unfamiliarity between players and staff as a new culture is being built under a new regime. For OUAZ golf, they were getting a coach who was already entrenched in the program’s culture during the first two years, leaving more focus on the course than on building a bond. 

Tina Barrett officially took over as head coach of both golf programs on June 10, 2019, as previous head coach Clayton Sikorski took an assistant coach position at Grand Canyon University. Barrett had served as Sikorski’s assistant coach during the programs’ first two seasons, where she played a huge part in the success that already piled up. 

Prior to being hired as the assistant in 2017, Barrett had yet to coach at the college level. While she may not have “valuable” coaching experience, she had something a lot more valuable to players looking to continue their game after OUAZ. 

Barrett put together an incredible career in the LPGA, putting together 53 top-10 finishes and winning the 1989 Mitsubishi Motors Ocean State Open over the span of 19 years. She also tallied three holes-in-one, and led the LPGA in driving accuracy in 2006. Her experience playing professional golf has allowed her to prepare those who are looking to play at the next level, and now-pro Noah Hofman learned a lot from the rookie head coach.

Honestly, never being satisfied with a score that I shoot or a shot that I hit. I would have to say not getting too high about yourself and not too low about yourself. You have to find that happy medium to stay throughout the whole round.

Hofman said of what he learned from Barrett

Hofman put together an impressive individual season, finishing at least tied for first in five of the seven events he played, winning three total, and finishing in top three in all seven events. It was a season in which he smashed the record books, and left a lasting impact beyond the numbers.

“Having someone like [Hofman], and Carter [Lewis] also, who have now turned professional,” Barrett said, “and Noah’s seeing some success kind of right away, is going to help the program. If [Hofman] can get to where he wants to go, and achieve his goals, then it’s only going to help us as a program.”

Hofman finished as the number one overall player in the NAIA in the GolfStat rankings, freshman Alexandre Vandermoton ranked fifth, and OUAZ had nine total players finish in the top 100 of those rankings. Those exceptional players helped OUAZ get to number four in the national rankings before the shutdown of the spring season in early March. 

OUAZ stayed at fourth in the final rankings, getting two first place votes as well. The team was unable to show more than two voters why they were the number one team in the country, and the Spirit felt the championship moniker was in their reach.

We had our eye on that national championship trophy all fall and for part of the spring that we played. That was our goal from the beginning of the year, was to get that national championship and focus more on the bigger picture. All these tournaments were to help us prepare for that.

Hofman said

While the 2019-2020 men’s team will be left to forever wonder how the season would have truly ended, the women’s program found some concrete results. It was a season that found some footing for the future, one that could reach the same heights as the men’s program has experienced so far, if not higher. 

Prior to the 2019-2020 season, the women’s program had yet to win a tournament as a team, and only had one medalist in history when Haley Kapanicas won the Southwest Minnesota Shootout on March 16, 2019. The Spirit earned its first ever team tournament win on September 23, 2019 when they finished first in the Firestorm Fall Invitational, then following it up by winning the OUAZ Fall Invitational seven days later. 

Kapanicas picked up another individual win in Firestorm Fall Invitational, and the Spirit were just one stroke away from its third team win at the Westmont Invitational. The team eventually did pick up the third victory when they won the 2020 edition of the Southwest Minnesota Shootout on March 12, days before the shutdown of the NAIA spring championships. While the team may not have racked up the victories in large quantities, they showed the foundation of a program that will be a factor for years to come. 

We ended up winning three tournaments which was amazing, and we lowered our stroke average from the year prior… We’re definitely trending in the right direction.

Original source can be found here.