Oklahoma golf: OU claims second Big 12 championship
By Chip Rouse
A year ago, the men’s Oklahoma golf team finished fourth in the Big 12 Championship. They followed that up with a national championship.
The reigning national champions, currently ranked third in the nation, made up for the lost opportunity last season in this year’s Big 12 Men’s Golf Championship, outpacing the field by eight strokes to win its second conference championship in golf as a member of the Big 12. The Sooners also won the league crown in 2006.
OU shot a 72-hole team score of 19-over-par 1139 over the par-72, Southern Hills Country Club course in Tulsa, Oklahoma. That tied for the third-lowest 72-hole score in the history of the Big 12 Golf Championship. Southern Hills was also the site of Oklahoma’s league title in 2006.
Top-ranked Oklahoma State and Texas, ranked 15th in the country, tied for second behind the Sooners, both eight shots back. Iowa State, the leader after 36 holes, was 20 strokes off the pace in fourth place and Baylor was fifth at 37 over par.
More from Oklahoma Sooners
- Oklahoma Sooners finish in top 25 in 2022-23 Directors’ Cup standings
- Oklahoma football: Carl Albert running back Xavier Robinson commits to Sooners
- Oklahoma basketball: Two former Sooners enter NBA as free agents
- Oklahoma softball lands five players on DI Softball All-America First Team
- Oklahoma golf: Sooners just miss out advancing to NCAA Championship quarterfinals
Three Sooners finished in the top seven on the individual leaderboard, led by tournament co-medalist Grant Hirschman, who finished in a three-way tie for first with a 72-hole score of three-over-par 283. Hirschman shared medalist honors with three others: Doug Ghim of Texas, Kristoffer Ventura of Oklahoma State and Jeremy Gandon of Kansas State.
Hirschman is one of just three Oklahoma male golfers to win or share top individual honors at the Big 12 Championship. The others were Anthony Kim (2005) and John Kidwell (2002).
OU junior Brad Dalke and redshirt sophomore Quade Cummins tied for seventh with a score of nine-over 289.
Hirschman, Dalke and Cummins all were named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team.
Oklahoma is hoping that the Big 12 championship is one of three championships it can capture in its home state in the 2018 postseason.
OU is slated to host and NCAA Regional on May 14-16 at the Jimmie Austin Golf Club in Norman. The NCAA Men’s Golf Championship will be contested at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the home course of Oklahoma State.