Ryan Hybl was decidedly unhappy after Oklahoma’s poor second round performance.
The Sooners struggled on the back nine and entered Wednesday’s NCAA Regional final round trailing Auburn by six strokes. OU met as a team Tuesday night to refocus, and it paid off. Oklahoma raced back, finishing -12 on Wednesday and -26 overall to outpace Auburn and claim the regional championship.
“We talked about it last night,” Oklahoma coach Hybl said. “We felt like we were just kind of surviving a little bit instead of thriving. And that's a big message that we're always talking about, is trying to thrive and not just be a survivor.”
The Sooners thrived on the last day of the tournament. Every golfer shot under par, led by senior Logan McAlister’s -5 and senior Patrick Welch’s -3. Additionally, redshirt senior Chris Gotterup finished -2 without bogeying.
Won the 𝐖𝐚𝐫No. 1 Oklahoma wins the NCAA Norman Regional and will play in its 11th consecutive NCAA Championship! #Sooners | #ChampU pic.twitter.com/GVIT4ont7b
— Oklahoma Golf (@OU_MGolf) May 18, 2022
“It felt nice to have a round where I played clean golf and played the back nine a little bit better,” McAlister said. “I know we've struggled the first few days on the back nine. I think we did a lot better job closing, which was huge today.”
The Sooners were bolstered in no small part by the crowd that came to support it at Jimmie Austin Golf Club. Oklahoma hosted a meet for the first time since the 2018 NCAA Regional, and provided with the opportunity, its fans showed up in spades, helping supply the players with the extra juice needed to push forward and earn the regional victory. Among the crowd was OU football coach Brent Venables.
There’s Only ☝️ #Sooners | @OU_Football pic.twitter.com/hmlO6meJ3R
— Oklahoma Golf (@OU_MGolf) May 18, 2022
The group that followed the team throughout the round, including family, friends and noted superfan “Mr. OU,” gathered with the team on the green for a massive group picture after the round.
“It's awesome,” McAlister said. “I mean, I don't know how many people that were actually out here, but we had really nice crowds and it was good to have that because you don't get that very much in college golf because we don't play at home. And so to have all these people out here was really cool and I'm thankful that we had a pretty good showing, especially today.”
The Sooners have also fed off team chemistry. The team has grown together off the course as much as on it, and the confidence and trust in each other that has resulted from that has sparked OU during its postseason run.
“This is my fourth year so I've been on four different teams and this one, something about it just just clicks a little bit better,” McAlister said. “And then, obviously, we all play good golf, but the environment and the team room, if you will, has been nothing short of amazing this year.”
Oklahoma has one final opportunity to show its team chemistry on the biggest stage from May 27 to June 1 when they head to the NCAA Finals at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale.
“They're a special group of guys, not just (because of) what they've produced on the golf course,” Hybl said. “But it's so much fun to be around. I truly believe that we believe in each other. We have trust in each other. And that's what it takes as a golf program, golf team, to be able to go do something special, like what's going to be needed next week.”
