Completed Event: Men's Golf at N.I.T. on January 26, 2026 , , 11th of 13
M Golf
at N.I.T.
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Seniors set to 'fight until the end'
9/16/2019 10:00:00 AM | Men's Golf, Paul Coro
GCU men's golf returns WAC champ, runner-up
The Grand Canyon men's golf team returns the conference champion and runner-up, its birdie leader and the last season's most improved player.
Going into a season with four players who have those credentials in their bags is a strong harbinger for a team that takes five players to each season tournament, starting with this week's Ram Masters Invitational at Colorado State.
"We feel comfortable with the first four guys because they played in our top five all of last year and qualified as our top four this year," GCU seventh-year head coach Mark Mueller said. "The four returners know what to do and know what we need to do. We just need somebody else to come in and play at a high level in the starting lineup. We're looking for that guy to differentiate himself in a tournament."
The Lopes return four seniors, a group highlighted by Jake Chanen after he led GCU in scoring average last season (72.27) and won WAC Championships medalist honors to advance to an NCAA regional.
Chanen, a Phoenix native, is more aware of the season's details than ever as the only player who is spending his fourth season in the program.
"It's different because I always felt like I was looking up to guys before," Chanen said. "Now that I'm a senior, there's nobody to look up to at this point. It's gone by really fast, that's for sure. I'm ready to get it going. My senior year will go by quicker than the other ones. It's crazy that it's here."
Chanen's stiffest competition at the WAC Championship last season was teammate Michael Salazar, now also a senior. Salazar, a Midland (Texas) College transfer, and sophomore Matthew Braley, last season's team leader in birdies, were playing their first seasons with GCU last season but now are engrained in what is to come over a 10-tournament season with four in the fall and six in the spring.
Chanen, Salazar and senior Trevor Lampson were three of the top seven finishers at last season's WAC Championship, where GCU finished four strokes behind Kansas City for the second consecutive year.
"That's our biggest goal to get back there and win the WAC and go from there," Chanen said. "Our top five is solid this year. We definitely have the depth to win the WAC and compete at regionals.
"I really think this year we have the best chance to get through because we have five guys who are going to fight until the end. You need people who are going to go to battle for you and not stop until it's done. I have confidence."
The opening-week lineup consists of Braley, Chanen, Lampson, Salazar and junior Adam Veenstra, who averaged 73.33 last season after transferring from Idaho.
"I think that everyone feels a little bit more comfortable with what they're trying to do," Mueller said. "With Jake, Mike and Trevor being seniors, this is their last go-around at it so everyone just knows what they need to do. Everyone knows their roles now so it's more defined.
"There is just something different about being a senior. There is no next year. It feels different. The guys just know they have a job to do."
The Lopes have a heavier spring schedule, when junior Reece Nilsen can be a factor. Nilsen finished fourth on the team in preseason qualifying but must sit out the fall competition after transferring from Rocky Mountain College. The Tucson, Arizona, native was named to the NAIA All-America third team last season, when he finished as the Frontier Conference runner-up.
GCU scheduled major tournaments in the spring with events at North Carolina, Purdue and Hawaii in addition to three tournaments in Arizona – the GCU Invitational at GCU Championship Golf Course in March, the Wyoming Cowboy Classic at Chandler's Whirlwind Golf Club in April and the WAC Championship at Maricopa's Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in May.
"The case for our team is we just have to get a little bit better in certain areas," said Mueller, who added former Ottawa Arizona and Oklahoma Wesleyan head coach Clayton Sikorski as his assistant coach. "If we do that, we have a chance to play well in tournaments and have some success."
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