Completed Event: Men's Golf at John A. Burns Intercollegiate on February 12, 2026 , , 13th of 19
M Golf
at John A. Burns Intercollegiate
13th of 19
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
Experience pairs with fresh faces for motivated team
9/18/2021 9:36:00 AM | Men's Golf, Paul Coro
GCU looks for breakthrough season after 3 WAC runner-up finishes
GCU men's golf head coach Mark Mueller had good reason to feel confident about his team with the players who were returning. And then the newcomers showed up and showed out in qualifying.
The Lopes start their season Monday at the Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, Colorado, where they will take a five-man lineup with three newcomers.
Since GCU was the unofficial WAC champion in 2017 during its Division I transition, the Lopes have finished as conference runner-up three times. The last two years were particularly difficult with the 2020 cancellation and having a rally come up one stroke shy this year.
After the WAC Championships in Las Vegas four months ago, then-freshman Nicky Kling turned to GCU teammate Matthew Braley and said, "Man, that was not fun."
Braley empathized before Kling looked him in the eyes and said, "You know, I'm going to be ready for next season."
"That was one little thing that got my vision of losing turned around and got me focused on this year," Braley said.
By no coincidence, Kling and Braley are the 13-man squad's returnees who made the first five-man travel squad after seven qualifying rounds at four Valley courses. They are joined by two graduate transfers, Zac Owens of Wichita State and Jacob Lackey of Central Oklahoma, and Italian freshman Matteo Cristoni.
Owens, Braley's childhood friend, is familiar with GCU Golf Course after taking fourth at this spring's GCU Invitational. He crushed preseason qualifying with a cumulative score of 16 under par, eight strokes ahead of Braley in second and nine strokes ahead of Cristoni in third.
"I love Zac's game," Mueller said. "He doesn't really have a whole lot of fear. He just tees it high and lets it fly. He plays with a lot of enthusiasm. He loves golf and has a chance to have a pretty good year."
Owens couples an ability to crush drives that carry 320 yards before they touch the fairway and finish the work around the green. He has two remaining years of eligibility for GCU.
"The school's on the rise so I thought it would be a good place to come and play," Owens said. "The main thing for me is the environment is way more positive than what I've been in. It's just a different atmosphere. You go out to the golf course and there will be five or six of the guys out there practicing at almost all times."
Braley's qualifying chances were dicey after a second-round 79, but his maturity showed in his responses with consecutive rounds of 69, 68, 70, 66 and 68.
"Matt got behind the 8-ball early, but he knew what he had to do and he did it," Mueller said. "If he can play like he did the last five rounds of qualifying, that's really going to help us a lot. He was determined to make it and he did."
Braley, who also has two eligibility years remaining, shaved strokes off his game this summer by working with a putting coach to further improve a strength of his game.
"It's been awesome to see these guys in qualifying because I see way more talent and grit in these freshmen than in myself back then," said Braley, also a co-president of GCU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. "It's going to be great to see how all these new guys mesh to create something really special. I think that's what we're track to do this year – to produce something we hadn't produced in the past.
"With the guys we have on the team, we have high expectations, but it's for a reason."
Cristoni entered GCU on a roll. In August, he finished third at the Swiss Golf International Championship and second at the Internationaux de France Coupe Murat.
In his first two weeks on American soil, Cristoni was navigating courses and desert golf that he had never experienced for a third-place qualifying finish.
"He plays really aggressive and is a very accomplished player," Mueller said. "I don't think anything is going to be too big for the kid. He has high expectations and works really hard. I wouldn't be surprised to see him have some success right away."
Cristoni, who is from Moderna, Italy, hits for distance at 6 feet 3 but considers chipping his strength.
"I love the team," Cristoni said. "I really enjoyed the time spent with my teammates. The team is pretty strong. There is a good atmosphere around the team. That is important. Everything here in Phoenix is perfect. I love the campus, my apartment. Everything is just amazing with the gym and everything."
Kling, the sophomore from crosstown Scottsdale Chaparral High School, is coming off a summer victory at the Sizzler Amateur. Kling and Jacob Lackey, a Central Oklahoma transfer, earned travel spots with freshman Sam Murphy of Ireland and sophomore Tommaso Zorzetto of Italy only missing out by one stroke.
"He's a very mature player," Mueller said. "He played 14 tournament rounds this summer and 13 were under par. The one over-par round was 1 over par. He had a very good summer and he's continued that good play into this."
The Lopes begin a long trek toward their conference goals in April with four fall tournaments, starting with the 16-team Ram Masters Invitational that host Colorado State has won six consecutive years.
"We need to be better that last week of April going into conference than we are right now,"Â said Mueller, entering his ninth year as head coach. "If we do that, we'll be fine. Everybody knows it's tougher so we have to keep in mind that we have to be better in the last week of April going into that tournament than we are right now. If we do that, we'll feel pretty comfortable with where we are at that time."
Â
The Lopes start their season Monday at the Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, Colorado, where they will take a five-man lineup with three newcomers.
Since GCU was the unofficial WAC champion in 2017 during its Division I transition, the Lopes have finished as conference runner-up three times. The last two years were particularly difficult with the 2020 cancellation and having a rally come up one stroke shy this year.
After the WAC Championships in Las Vegas four months ago, then-freshman Nicky Kling turned to GCU teammate Matthew Braley and said, "Man, that was not fun."
Braley empathized before Kling looked him in the eyes and said, "You know, I'm going to be ready for next season."
"That was one little thing that got my vision of losing turned around and got me focused on this year," Braley said.
By no coincidence, Kling and Braley are the 13-man squad's returnees who made the first five-man travel squad after seven qualifying rounds at four Valley courses. They are joined by two graduate transfers, Zac Owens of Wichita State and Jacob Lackey of Central Oklahoma, and Italian freshman Matteo Cristoni.
Owens, Braley's childhood friend, is familiar with GCU Golf Course after taking fourth at this spring's GCU Invitational. He crushed preseason qualifying with a cumulative score of 16 under par, eight strokes ahead of Braley in second and nine strokes ahead of Cristoni in third.
"I love Zac's game," Mueller said. "He doesn't really have a whole lot of fear. He just tees it high and lets it fly. He plays with a lot of enthusiasm. He loves golf and has a chance to have a pretty good year."Owens couples an ability to crush drives that carry 320 yards before they touch the fairway and finish the work around the green. He has two remaining years of eligibility for GCU.
"The school's on the rise so I thought it would be a good place to come and play," Owens said. "The main thing for me is the environment is way more positive than what I've been in. It's just a different atmosphere. You go out to the golf course and there will be five or six of the guys out there practicing at almost all times."
Braley's qualifying chances were dicey after a second-round 79, but his maturity showed in his responses with consecutive rounds of 69, 68, 70, 66 and 68.
"Matt got behind the 8-ball early, but he knew what he had to do and he did it," Mueller said. "If he can play like he did the last five rounds of qualifying, that's really going to help us a lot. He was determined to make it and he did."
Braley, who also has two eligibility years remaining, shaved strokes off his game this summer by working with a putting coach to further improve a strength of his game.
"It's been awesome to see these guys in qualifying because I see way more talent and grit in these freshmen than in myself back then," said Braley, also a co-president of GCU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. "It's going to be great to see how all these new guys mesh to create something really special. I think that's what we're track to do this year – to produce something we hadn't produced in the past.
"With the guys we have on the team, we have high expectations, but it's for a reason."
Cristoni entered GCU on a roll. In August, he finished third at the Swiss Golf International Championship and second at the Internationaux de France Coupe Murat.
In his first two weeks on American soil, Cristoni was navigating courses and desert golf that he had never experienced for a third-place qualifying finish.
"He plays really aggressive and is a very accomplished player," Mueller said. "I don't think anything is going to be too big for the kid. He has high expectations and works really hard. I wouldn't be surprised to see him have some success right away."
Cristoni, who is from Moderna, Italy, hits for distance at 6 feet 3 but considers chipping his strength."I love the team," Cristoni said. "I really enjoyed the time spent with my teammates. The team is pretty strong. There is a good atmosphere around the team. That is important. Everything here in Phoenix is perfect. I love the campus, my apartment. Everything is just amazing with the gym and everything."
Kling, the sophomore from crosstown Scottsdale Chaparral High School, is coming off a summer victory at the Sizzler Amateur. Kling and Jacob Lackey, a Central Oklahoma transfer, earned travel spots with freshman Sam Murphy of Ireland and sophomore Tommaso Zorzetto of Italy only missing out by one stroke.
"He's a very mature player," Mueller said. "He played 14 tournament rounds this summer and 13 were under par. The one over-par round was 1 over par. He had a very good summer and he's continued that good play into this."
The Lopes begin a long trek toward their conference goals in April with four fall tournaments, starting with the 16-team Ram Masters Invitational that host Colorado State has won six consecutive years.
"We need to be better that last week of April going into conference than we are right now,"Â said Mueller, entering his ninth year as head coach. "If we do that, we'll be fine. Everybody knows it's tougher so we have to keep in mind that we have to be better in the last week of April going into that tournament than we are right now. If we do that, we'll feel pretty comfortable with where we are at that time."
Â
Senior Reflections
Wednesday, April 15
Baptized at GCU
Tuesday, April 14
Singles off BOTH bags. ONE inning. 🤯 #baseball
Sunday, April 12
HOMER from the DRONE 🥎 #collegesoftball
Saturday, April 11