The OU men’s golf team will head into its spring opener Monday at the Oak Hills Invitational in San Antonio, Texas, with high hopes after a promising start to the fall season and the addition of an Oklahoma native to the Sooners’ lineup.

Under first-year head coach Ryan Hybl, the Sooners won their fall season opener at the Kansas Invitational in dramatic fashion, overcoming a two-shot deficit to take home the victory in Lawrence, Kan. The win marked OU’s first victory in a season opener since winning the Ridges Intercollegiate in 1999 in Johnson City, Tenn.

Hybl also became the first OU head golf coach to win in his debut since Gregg Grost achieved the same feat back in 1986 at the U.S.-Japan Friendship Intercollegiate. Grost would go on to lead OU to its first and only national championship in 1989.

“The very first tournament we played in the competition was not very strong. But it was good for us to go up and get the win at the beginning of the season,” Hybl said.

Although the Sooners started the fallnseason out strong, OU was humbled quickly as the team took on a loaded field featuring seven top-50 opponents, including then No. 5 Texas, in its following competition at the rain-shortened Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Vestavia Hills, Ala. After inclement weather cancelled the final two rounds of golf, the Sooners finished the tournament with an 18-hole team score of 292 (+12), leaving them with a 12th-place finish.

Redshirt sophomore Riley Pumphrey, who posted top-15 finishes in each of the first two tournaments, said the team had the potential to do well in Alabama, but just could not bring all the pieces together in time.

“All of our guys are capable of shooting good scores,” Pumphrey said. “But when you’re struggling, grinding it out and trying to finish the round out strong, things can go south quickly.”

In the final two tournaments OU competed in during the fall, the Sooners improved their scores but still wound up with ninth-place and 10th-place showings in Dallas and San Martin, Calif., respectively.

Hybl said although the results may not have reflected it, the team played steadier golf and against tougher competition in its final three tournaments than in Kansas.

“The last three tournaments we played in were the types of tournaments we need to be playing week in and week out,” Hybl said. “We didn’t play great but we didn’t play too far off from where we should be right now.”

Leading the Sooners so far this year is senior Ben Blundell, who comes into the spring with a 72 scoring average through four tournaments. In those four tournaments, Blundell’s worst finish was a tie for 36th in Vestavia Hills, while earning a sixth-place finish in the season opener and notching two other top-15 finishes.

“I would say that experience has been my biggest advantage this year so far,” Blundell said. “By the time of your senior year, you really know what the completion is going to be like and what some of the scores you’re going to have to shoot are to actually get up there and compete.”

Hybl also said that Blundell’s reliability and leadership qualities are a large part of the team’s success, which had no seniors to help guide it last year.

“Ben is a very good leader and he’s a really good grinder in trying to figure out how to get every shot out of his round that he possibly can,” Hybl said. “He’s definitely proven to be one of our better players this year already and we’re looking for big things out of him.”

With the addition of Vanderbilt transfer Ben Klaus to the team, OU received a big boost in terms of experience from the redshirt sophomore from Edmond, Okla. Klaus helped lead Edmond North to three straight Class 6A State high school titles before signing with the Commodores in 2007.

“We’re looking for [Klaus] to come in with a bit of leadership as well and help us out this spring to get us where we need to be,” Hybl said.

While golf may not be one of the most followed sports at OU, the Sooners’ top rivals are quite familiar to most OU fans. The Big 12 Conference features three teams ranked in the top 10 in No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 10 Texas. The list does not include Texas Tech, where the Red Raiders are listed as the No. 17 team in the nation.

“Oklahoma State year in and year out is going to be the biggest competition. Not only in the Big 12 but in the country. That’s always our goal; to beat OSU every year,” Klaus said.

And while the team has become accustomed to being overlooked by students and fans, the lack of attention has not stopped the Sooners from stepping up as they get ready to tee off the spring season.

“Just because we’re not seen as much as the other guys, we’re still athletes and we work out just as much as the other guys do,” Blundell said. “We practice just as much, if not more, than the other guys do. Just because we’re not in the spotlight all the time doesn’t mean we’re not working as hard as we can to do what we need to do.”

Klaus echoed the sentiments of his teammate.

“From the time I’ve been here, everyone’s been pumped about the things we can do around here,” Klaus said. “We put in a lot of hard work and a lot of travel. We miss more school than anybody. We’re going to be a very good team here in the next few years especially. The program is definitely looking up right now.”