Fresh roster, strong performances: Men’s golf ready for Big 12 competition

Baylor men's golf head coach Mike McGraw (middle) chats with senior golfer Johnny Keefer at the Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas. Photo courtesy of Baylor Athletics.

By George Schroeder | LTVN Executive Producer

With a new enthusiasm to improve, a competitive roster and strong opening performances, Baylor men’s golf has a fresh outlook. It’s not just ready to compete in the Big 12, it’s ready to conquer it.

Finishing third in the Trinity Forest Invitational with their best 54-hole tournament since 2020, senior Luke Dossey said the team knew success was right around the corner.

“We knew it was coming, we just didn’t know when,” Dossey said. “We all knew that everyone was trending in the right direction, and it was just a matter of time before we put ourselves into contention to win a golf tournament.”

This is not the same team as last year. Dossey said last season, only one golfer had a great season, and that was senior Johnny Keefer. So far, it looks like that won’t be the case this year.

“He’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen close up, so it’s been cool to see a bunch of guys this year, step up and kind of help him out,” Dossey said. “It’s team golf. You can’t have one guy win a golf tournament for you.”

Keefer hasn’t had the start he has been looking for this season according to head coach Mike McGraw.

“Some guys on the team have stepped up to try to fill whatever void there is right there — and I’m not saying there’s a huge void — he’s still counting pretty much every round we play,” McGraw said. “But without Johnny playing his best, the team has stepped up and we have gotten better.”

Competition on a fresh roster has been key, and it’s a night-and-day difference from last year.

“It can’t be overstated,” McGraw said. “The amount of competition we have on the team compared to last year is very noticeable — it’s not even close. Because of that, in some way or another we’re going to be a better team.”

The Bears produced the results to back up that claim. They led the tournament in birdies, and in two rounds avoided double bogies entirely, something McGraw said he’s never had a team do before. Dossey said those results take a unified mentality.

“It’s just eliminating those big numbers, and just when you’re out of position, get back into position,” Dossey said. “That will really show on the scoreboard because we definitely have the firepower to go make a bunch of birdies.”

Monday, Baylor heads into Big 12 Matchplay — a form of play where golfers attempt to score the lowest on individual holes while competing individually — and the game could produce victory margins of single strokes.

In their past two tournaments, Baylor has finished behind Kansas and Oklahoma State by only five and four strokes, respectively. That’s a difference of only one stroke per golfer. With margins that slim, McGraw said his players need to focus if they want to clean off their scorecards.

“Every player has to look at his own statistics, and find out where he’s losing shots,” McGraw said. “Collectively, if everybody on the team is doing that, and they’re doing their job there, one shot per man over three rounds isn’t a lot.”

They’ve won match play before, and if the Bears can implement what they know they need to do on the green, Dossey said they are ready to come out on top again.

“I think we might surprise a lot of people based off the year we had last year,” Dossey said. “We’re going to go there with the mindset of ‘we can win this thing.’ We’re trending in the right direction. Why not go surprise a bunch of people?”

McGraw said the only thing his team can control is simply working harder and getting better. So one question is left to be answered: can his golfers turn those words into action?

When the time to find out comes next week, McGraw only has one message for the Bears ahead of competing against conference foes.

“Let’s just let our golf clubs do the talking,” McGraw said.

George Schroeder is a senior at Baylor University majoring in journalism. Currently the only student on his 4th year with the Lariat, he is the executive producer for Lariat TV News, he has worked as the managing editor, a broadcast reporter and an anchor for the program. In 2022 he was named the Baylor Department of Student Media’s “Broadcaster of the Year” and the inaugural winner of the Rick Bradfield Award for Breaking News Coverage. During his time with the Lariat, he has served as a member of the Editorial Board, a sportswriter and an opinion writer. He is a contracted cadet in the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps and will commission as an officer into the United States Air Force after graduation in 2024.