Men’s golf starts strong, hopes to keep the momentum going

By Evie Vu 9/18/24 12:02am

The Rice men’s golf team teed off their season with a historic win last week. Lukas Boandl placed first at the Argent Financial Classic in Louisiana, becoming the fourth golfer in Rice history to complete a tournament at least -10 and the first to receive medalist honors in any tournament since 2019. The Owls tied for third place at +6, three strokes behind the lead.

“My goal this year was to win a tournament,” Boandl, a junior, said. “But now that I’ve done that, I need to set some new goals.”

On the first day of the tournament, Boandl carded a 65, the second-best round in school history. He followed with a 73 and 68 on the second and third days respectively, ending with a cumulative score of 206 to secure the win.

“Lukas always had enormous potential, and he’s finally really showing it,” said head coach Justin Emil.

Emil said the team has made serious improvements since last season.

“We’ve been heavily recruiting new players,” Emil said. “We got a freshman, Daniel Zou, who may be our highest-ranked recruit in program history.”

Zou was a top-25 recruit in the nation and top five in Texas for the high school class of 2024, according to the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings and the AJGA Rolex Rankings.

Aside from recruiting, Emil said increased structure during practice has helped the team focus on three areas.

“First, we have to be good off the tee,” Emil said. “Getting the ball into play is the most important part. Second is the approach shot, so we want to focus on getting the ball on the correct side of the pin and finding the right part of the green to put the ball on. Last is the short game and putting.”

In addition to Boandl and Zou, Emil said sophomore Reggie Zhu and senior Raghav Chugh are other players to keep an eye on this year. Zhu placed top-20 in the tournament last week and while Chugh is recovering from an injury, Emil said he played well over the summer.

Zhu said he trained over the summer by competing in tournaments in his hometown, Winter Garden, Fla.

“When I’m playing tournaments, I’m just focusing on controlling what I can control and taking one shot at a time,” Zhu said.

The team has big goals for this season and hopes to play post-season NCAA golf. To achieve this, Emil emphasized that they have to do the little things right first.

“We have to focus on the right things,” Emil said. “How we approach the day, what we eat, taking cell phones away in practice. We need to play well throughout the year, not just at the conference tournament … and [win] in the classroom.”

Emil said the team also has a unique approach to team bonding and creating culture. They have five words and phrases — humility, wisdom, honor, discipline and the relentless pursuit of team — that they say lead them through practice and tournaments. Established three years ago, Emil said these values are the soul of the program.

“We look at what [the phrases] mean on and off the course,” Emil said. “[Players] think about how they want to approach the year, and how they’ll follow these for the next forty years of their lives.”

Zhu said the team is like a brotherhood.

“We have workouts three times a week, and the whole team goes to South or Seibel [servery] after every single time,” Zhu said. “It’s really fun. We’re all sweaty and whatever, and we’re just all eating breakfast together.”

The team is in Fort Collins, Colo., competing in the Ram Masters Invitational until Wednesday evening. Next, they will host the Bayou City Collegiate Classic at Westwood Golf Club in Houston Sept. 30.