After losing five seniors, the 'Hawks look to underclassmen to provide guidance for their fellow teammates.
After finishing in seventh place in last year's MAC tournament, the Miami University men's golf team is once again setting its sights on a MAC championship.
The team will strive to do so despite losing five seniors from last year's squad including top performers Ben Bastel and Ben Wood. One of the team members that will be asked to fill the void left by Bastel and Wood is current senior Craig Voorhees.
"I do need to step up and be a leader for the squad this year," Voorhees said. "I don't feel like there is any added pressure being placed on me, since I have plenty of support from the rest of the team."
Miami's head coach Casey Lubahn will be entering his second season at the helm of RedHawk golf. After last year's somewhat disappointing finish, Coach Lubahn plans to learn from last year and use the experience to improve the team.
"I really think that the culture of the program is beginning to grow," Lubahn said. "As far as me personally, I feel like I know a lot of the guys better, which will help the team grow. I'm just really excited about embracing what Miami is and what our guys go through on a day-to-day basis."
The RedHawks sport a relatively experienced team for the upcoming season with seven of the 10 golfers being either juniors or seniors.
"Really what's going to need to happen for us to succeed is for the younger players from last year to step up," Voorhees said. "We have our sights set on the MAC championship, as we do every year. Unfortunately we came up short last season, but hopefully we can perform at our best this season."
While Coach Lubahn does find the upperclassmen to be very important to the team's success, he said he also believes the freshmen have something to bring to the table.
"I'm excited about the freshmen coming in," Lubahn said. "We're excited about injecting some youth and some sheer talent into our program."
Last season, Miami shot a 38-over-par at the MAC Championship to finish in seventh place, which was a disappointing finish for the 'Hawks, according to Coach Lubahn.
Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter
"Last year's finish was a disappointment, but we had a good year," Lubahn said. "We were consistently the third-ranked team in the MAC all last year, but I expect us to be a little sharper this year. This team should grow a lot from now until May."
In order to prepare themselves for the upcoming season, Voorhees and his teammates do their best to keep up with golf over the summer.
"The summers are a lot different when compared to the golf season," Voorhees said. "You really have to stay focused and put it on yourself to go out and put in the time to keep up with your game. It takes a lot of individual effort, which is different than being around a bunch of guys who are doing the same thing as you."
Miami will kick off its golf season with the Gopher Invitational Sept. 13 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Read More
How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history
By Sean Scott | March 20, 2024Jazma Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.
Miami faculty members recount Freedom Summer in new documentary
By Luke Macy | February 25, 2022After seven years of work, “Training for Freedom,” a documentary highlighting Oxford’s involvement in the Freedom Summer of 1964, premiered on PBS Western Reserve on Valentine’s Day.
“Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic”: History in the making
By Alice Momany | August 29, 2021In March 2020, Miami University’s archives launched “Documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a collection focused on life during the COVID-19 pandemic.