University of North Texas Athletics
Photo by: Rick Yeatts Photography
Stracke Reflects On Season Cut Short
5/4/2020 9:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
DENTON – Several sports across the college athletics world had their respective seasons cut short by the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic in March, and the UNT men's golf team was no different.
Just weeks after one of its best showings of the season at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, the positive momentum was halted by the virus and sent the team members scattered around the world back to their perspective homes, where many of them still are.
Head coach Brad Stracke said when he first got the news the season was canceled with five tournaments still to play, including the Conference USA Championship, his reaction was like everyone else's.
"My initial reaction about the season being cut short was shock," he said. "After we learned more about the COVID-19 situation, it was clear we all saved lives by cutting our seasons short."
Stracke said he was proud of the way his team responded to some unexpected struggles early in the fall season and felt his team was on the upswing just when the season was cut short.
"We play an extremely strong schedule and beat the fourth-best team in the country this season," he said. "We had opportunities to beat a few more top-10 teams and let it slip away in the final round."
"The confidence of our team was growing, and we all felt good about our next tournament," Stracke added. "Nobody can tell the future, and it would be unfair to say what would happen in the postseason. Facts are we started to compete and beat teams that were ranked nationally. It's fair to say our team was improving a lot and gaining confidence going into our last four regular-season tournaments plus postseason."
The team was led throughout the year by two upperclassmen in junior Viktor Forslund and redshirt junior Kristof Ulenaers. Forslund led the team with a scoring average of 73.00 and also had the low round of the year when he shot a 65 at the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic. He carded a 69-71-72 to tie for ninth place at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate to end the season.
"Viktor is a great player, student and person," Stracke said. "He has learned through his experience how to lead, and I look forward to working with him again in the fall."
Ulenaers was second on the team with a 73.76 scoring average and led the team with three top-20 finishes, including back-to-back, career-best 14th-place finishes at the William H. Tucker Invitational and the Maridoe Intercollegiate.
Ulenaers has decided to return to his home country of Belgium, where he is the nation's second-ranked golfer, to turn professional and will forgo his final year of eligibility. Stracke said he was glad to see Ulenaers recover from a shoulder surgery last year and put together an injury-free season.
"Kristof was on pace to compete for an entire year without injury for the first time throughout his college career," Stracke said. "He was making progress like the rest of the team. It was sad that Kristof didn't get to experience the postseason once in his four years here at UNT."
Other than those two, Stracke's squad had a lot of youth, including four freshmen and two sophomores who all saw action throughout the year. He expects their experience in the shortened 2019-20 season to pay big dividends in the 2020-21 season.
"We have a young team, and they all improved immensely over this season," Stracke said. "We're fortunate they get to play another year of college golf and take advantage of what they learned."
Just weeks after one of its best showings of the season at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, the positive momentum was halted by the virus and sent the team members scattered around the world back to their perspective homes, where many of them still are.
Head coach Brad Stracke said when he first got the news the season was canceled with five tournaments still to play, including the Conference USA Championship, his reaction was like everyone else's.
"My initial reaction about the season being cut short was shock," he said. "After we learned more about the COVID-19 situation, it was clear we all saved lives by cutting our seasons short."
Stracke said he was proud of the way his team responded to some unexpected struggles early in the fall season and felt his team was on the upswing just when the season was cut short.
"We play an extremely strong schedule and beat the fourth-best team in the country this season," he said. "We had opportunities to beat a few more top-10 teams and let it slip away in the final round."
"The confidence of our team was growing, and we all felt good about our next tournament," Stracke added. "Nobody can tell the future, and it would be unfair to say what would happen in the postseason. Facts are we started to compete and beat teams that were ranked nationally. It's fair to say our team was improving a lot and gaining confidence going into our last four regular-season tournaments plus postseason."
The team was led throughout the year by two upperclassmen in junior Viktor Forslund and redshirt junior Kristof Ulenaers. Forslund led the team with a scoring average of 73.00 and also had the low round of the year when he shot a 65 at the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic. He carded a 69-71-72 to tie for ninth place at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate to end the season.
"Viktor is a great player, student and person," Stracke said. "He has learned through his experience how to lead, and I look forward to working with him again in the fall."
Ulenaers was second on the team with a 73.76 scoring average and led the team with three top-20 finishes, including back-to-back, career-best 14th-place finishes at the William H. Tucker Invitational and the Maridoe Intercollegiate.
Ulenaers has decided to return to his home country of Belgium, where he is the nation's second-ranked golfer, to turn professional and will forgo his final year of eligibility. Stracke said he was glad to see Ulenaers recover from a shoulder surgery last year and put together an injury-free season.
"Kristof was on pace to compete for an entire year without injury for the first time throughout his college career," Stracke said. "He was making progress like the rest of the team. It was sad that Kristof didn't get to experience the postseason once in his four years here at UNT."
Other than those two, Stracke's squad had a lot of youth, including four freshmen and two sophomores who all saw action throughout the year. He expects their experience in the shortened 2019-20 season to pay big dividends in the 2020-21 season.
"We have a young team, and they all improved immensely over this season," Stracke said. "We're fortunate they get to play another year of college golf and take advantage of what they learned."
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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