Wright State golf: Raiders break slump, win at Northern Kentucky’s tourney

But their one-stroke victory against 13 other teams at the Jewell Invitational on Monday and Tuesday was their first win since September and only their second top-10 finish in five spring events. The players may not have shown it, but they were buzzing inside.

“It’s always good to get a win. Having a few Horizon League schools there helped to see what we’re going up against. Would I say we played our best? No. We had some hiccups. But I think there were signs of some really good golf being played,” fourth-year coach Conner Lash said.

Shane Ochs led the way with a second-place showing at 2-under and made a couple of birdies in the final four holes to help put the Raiders over the top.

“The guys were happy they won, but it was almost kind of a relief. We’ve been struggling and not playing our best. I really think coming down the stretch with the nerves and not having our best stuff — being able to squeak it out was really a confidence-booster,” Lash said.

“Finding ourselves at the bottom of leaderboards this year isn’t something we’re used to. It’s been humbling. We definitely got back to our winning ways, and, hopefully, that kick-started some things.”

Ian Asch, playing as individual (meaning his score didn’t count in the team total), was second for Wright State at even par for a tie for sixth, while Ali Berker, also playing as an individual, tied for 23rd.

Among the starters, Timmy Hollenbeck and Adam Horn tied for 11th, 2024 league champ Andrew Flynn tied for 44th and Brock Rumpke tied for 51st.

The Raiders beat seven other league foes, which is promising since the HL championship is April 19-21 at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.

They’ll get a crack at a few more conference teams in the Wright State Invitational on Sunday and Monday at Heatherwoode G.C.

But while they’re the defending league champs — and have finished first-second-first-second-first in the last five HL tourneys — they don’t have quite the swagger they did in the past.

In 2021-22, they won a school-record nine times in 12 events.

In 2022-23, they won another three times and finished in the top-three in nine of 11 tourneys.

But they were shut out last year until a late surge, winning at NKU and in their event and then storming to their eighth league title by 18 shots.

“I definitely think we’ve not been playing well, and other teams in our league have gotten better,” Lash said.

The Raiders’ average finish in the events before NKU (with fields ranging from 12 to 20 teams) was 6.9.

Last year, it was 7.3 before they caught fire.

“I was telling the guys, ‘I think we can get this monkey off our back like we’re big, bad Wright State, and all we’ve got to do is show up and we win,” Lash said.

“We’ve built up that attitude a little bit over the years. We had great teams and great talent. It’s easy to think that way. I’ve been guilty of it, too. But every year’s different. We need to let the past go.”