Gorilla golf returned last season after a long ten-year hiatus, with a brand-new golf team coached by Nick Long competing at the varsity level. It was a middling season for the team as a whole, finishing as high as fourth once, but more often hovering around the tenth spot in many tournaments. The Gorillas would end up in tenth place in their final tournament last season, coming just ahead of Rogers State University.
Despite this, the season was not without its individual success stories and triumphs. Players like graduate Carson Towey and junior Mason White led the Gorillas in many tournaments. Towey has left the team, leading White as the more experienced player left. This squad is consistent, however, as junior Tyler Hardtarfer, senior Theo Juhl, sophomore Cooper Forth, redshirt freshman Zade Avery, senior Brooks Sauder, and junior Keaton Thissen, all return for another year. The competition will be tighter this year, as the team grew from 10 to 12 players and features a lot of new young talent.
Coach Long has a history at Pitt. Playing for the Gorillas from 2000-2003, he was a team captain in his final two seasons, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Long is the first full-time head golf coach the university has ever hired. Adding to his resume starting this year, Long is now also coaching the brand-new women’s team.
This is the first time ever that Pitt State has had a dedicated varsity women’s golf team, as the university adds its second female sport in the last two years, with women’s soccer having started a year prior. The team will be smaller than the men’s, with just six players in its inaugural season.
The team will be led by Coach Long and a trio of junior transfers. Genevieve Akers from Fresno State, Abigail Ervin from University of Mobile Alabama, and Kymbree Lawrence from McLennan Community College. Lawrence played extensively at the junior college level, Ervin has competed all her years in the Southern State Athletic Conference, and Akers has prior experience at the division I and junior college level. These three will be the only upperclassmen on the roster, as freshmen Katherine Adkins, Madison Durr, and Charlotte Kerbs fill the rest.
The Gorillas will look to get their feet wet in competition Monday, Sep. 8, when they travel to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, to play in the Northeastern State University Classic. For the men’s team, they will look to start their season on Sep. 8, as well, playing in Pierson, Michigan at the Pilgrim’s Run Invite hosted by West Texas A&M University. The women will get a chance to prove they belong against the other competition, while the men will look to improve their standings from last year.