After coming off of a successful 2021-2022 season, Chico State Men’s Golf prepares for an action-packed season that begins on Sept. 26, where they will play in the Western Washington University Invitational at the Bellingham Golf & Country Club.

This year’s Wildcat roster consists of 10 players: five returning and five new additions to the team.

“We have a good mix this year, it’s about five returners and five newcomers,” said junior Tyler Ashman. “I would say, our team’s expectations are the same as last year … one of them being having a chance to win every tournament we play in.”

Ashman had an outstanding season last year. He had the team’s best overall round, scoring a 67 through 18 holes, and being 5-under par in his third round of play at the Otter Invitational hosted by Cal State Monterey Bay last October. 

With successful play from Ashman and sophomore Dakota Ochoa, they were named to the 2021-2022 All- California Collegiate Athletic Association team. 

The Wildcats were notable as a team last year winning the Western Washington University Invitational, and placing in the top-five as a team in six of the 11 tournaments they played in. 

Freshman player, Giuliano Kaminski is looking forward to the opportunity to play in his first college invitational. 

“I’m looking forward to playing a lot more and being more a part of the team with the guys,” Kaminski said. “High school golf was kind of bad in that way, I think it will be a lot better in college where everybody is contributing.” 

In the Northern California Junior Classic, hosted by the Hurricane Junior Golf Tour, Kaminski finished in first place by scoring a combined total of 154 through 36 holes in March of this year. 

After competing in the National College Athletic Association Division Two Super Regional in Pueblo, Colorado in early May, sophomore Travis Miller took some time this summer to reflect on his first season being on the roster. 

With qualifying for only 65% in the tournaments played last year, Miller is looking forward to competing more frequently for the Wildcats this season.

“I definitely want to compete in 80 percent of the tournaments,” Miller said. “I think last year it came out to be 60 or 65 percent and I want to have a top-five finish in one of the tournaments.”

According to the Chico State Wildcats website, Miller has an average of 76.57, but there’s a lot he wants to improve on before this upcoming season.

“It was obvious for me, I had to work on a lot of decision making,” Miller said. “Maturing more as a player, when I was younger junior golf the physical aspect would do the job, but now everyone has that so you have to be smart and know what you are doing.”

The Wildcats have five tournaments scheduled for this fall. Including the Chico State annual Wildcat Classic on Oct.10-11 at the Peach Tree Golf & Country Club in Marysville, California.

“I’m looking forward to getting back out there,” Ashman said. “I’m also looking forward to the depth that we have as a team, we’ve been looking for that … I think the way that we are playing right now, we can give ourselves a chance to win every tournament.”

For more information about Chico State Men’s Golf and Wildcats Athletics, visit the Chico State Wildcats homepage. 

Alejandro Mejia Mejia can be reached at [email protected] or @MeijaMeijaAlex on Twitter.