Eyeing a repeat: Stillwater golfer Grant Gudgel going for another state title
By Ty Loftis
Photo of Stillwater golfer Grant Gudgel, left, along with his father, assistant coach Eric Gudgel, by Rip Stell, Golf Oklahoma Magazine
When the Stillwater boys golf team takes the course at Bailey Ranch in Owasso this week, the Pioneers will have their eyes set on winning a championship.
Not to mention junior Grant Gudgel will be looking to repeat as a champion from last year. This comes after Gudgel qualified for state at last week’s regional tournament.
“Having that chance to repeat will be great,” Gudgel said. “It’s not something a lot of players have a chance to do, so I’m just going to go out there, enjoy myself and see how things turn out.”
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Gudgel, who also won the junior state amateur title before the start of his sophomore season, is one of the top-rated golfers across the state, having already announced that he will be playing collegiately at Oklahoma State University.
Gudgel, who would be the first Stillwater High graduate to play at OSU since T.J. Nance in the late 1990s, talks about what went in to making that decision.
“OSU is a great golf program,” Gudgel said. “Not just that, but I grew up here and all-in-all, it was a pretty easy decision.”
Despite all of these accomplishments, Pioneer coach Sam Morris says it is important for Gudgel not to remain complacent.
“I have seen him improve by leaps and bounds, there is no doubt about that, but it is easy to settle once you have gotten to what you think is the top,” Morris said. “With golf, there is no top. You can always work at something to improve your game.”
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Gudgel agrees with that mindset, as he is always looking for ways to improve his game.
“I think to be your best, you have to understand that you aren’t going to be at your best every time out,” Gudgel said. “You go in streaks, but you want to do whatever it takes to be playing at your best come tournament time.”
In an attempt to play at his best, Gudgel has picked up a few procedures to stay composed while on the course.
“When I’m out on the course, I just relax and try to slow everything down around me,” Gudgel said. “It’s important not to let mind games affect you in the game of golf, and slowing everything down really helps with that.”
Gudgel has followed his state championship win by being named to the all-conference team and finishing third individually at regionals earlier last week. That third-place finish is something he looks to avenge after having a stellar regular season.
“It’s not how I wanted those two days to play out, but I played well enough to qualify for state,” Gudgel said. “More importantly, we won the team title and so we will get a chance to win that, too.”
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The Pioneers lost out to Norman North in last year’s title race, but with the play of all-conference golfers Max Wolfe, Ty Hyatt and Weston Lacy, they are poised to be back in title contention. Morris talks about what it will take for both Gudgel, and the Pioneers, to bring titles back to Stillwater.
“Grant has obviously shown that he can play on the biggest stage,” Morris said. “This year, as a team, we have challenged ourselves to play at a lot of the same tournaments with other title-contending teams and a lot of times we have proved that we are capable of playing, and beating the rest, so we will see what happens (at state).”
The Class 6A state championship got under way on Monday and will conclude with the final round Tuesday at Bailey Ranch in Owasso.
